If I had to say goodbye
by thepapergirl
Summary: How far would you go to save the one you love?  JxJ in beginning, GxJ towards end. rated T for character death, angst, and mild language- Reviews make the clouds purple!:D
1. Would you be the one to stop me?

**A/A Hey guys! I am vaguely new here, and this is my first story! I had to delete the VERY first posting of this story because it was not showing up due to a Document uploader mistake ****made on my behalf :P Well, this is a story set four or so years into the future, when Kippernia is at war with Gypsies/ Nomads. Keep in mind that this is a *Drama* so yes, it will be a bit OOC. Jane is about 15, Jester is about 17, and Gunther about 18. I ****just KNOW that is off, so correct me if I'm wrong. I REALLY hope this works... *Crosses fingers* Feel free to PM me with questions or co****m****ments and more than free to press that shiny little review down there... :)**

**Special thanks to-**

**TheManyFacesOfJester****and****SunRise19 for reviewing on the old copy, I owe you both a Lot! okay, Enjoy!**

**LadyM**

* * *

><p><em>It started on a beautiful summer day.<em>

_Of course, you are thinking, all stories begin with the sun. Well, this one will too, as all stories have to begin __somewhere-__ God knows wher__e. So the sun is just as good a place as any. Now, would you calm down and let me tell the story? Good. Now, where was I?__  
><em>_The room was wide and spacious, the light that streamed through the windows looked dusty and old as time in the autumn coolness of the__ kitchens. Barrels were scattered about here and here, and in the center of the room lay a long wooden center table where two girls stood, each about fifteen.__  
><em>_Squire and the cook worked silently, side by side, kneading the dough with a kind of lazy concent__ration. Through the window, the court jester was arguing quietly with the other squire, their banter muffled by the steady sound the blacksmiths hammer and of bread being rolled into long doughy threads…_

The redheaded girl looked up from her work and gazed out the window silently, a small whisper of a smile shimmering across her lips. The cook, called Pepper more often than naught, didn't even look up from her bread.  
>"You know, Jane,"<br>she murmured, breaking the silence.  
>"Someday, you will have to choose,"<br>Jane stopped, taking in the heavy comfort of the morning met with the weight of her friend's words on her heart. Hanging her head towards the neglected bread, she began to roll the dough between her fingers.  
>"I know," she whispered, expressionless.<p>

Pepper turned back to her work with a sad gleam in her nut-brown eyes.  
><em>Jane worried pepper.<em>_  
><em>_She worried her with the way she put herself firmly between troubles, and her friends. Jane worried her with the way she had given so much effort towards others trials' fo__r so long, that she could not remember how to cope with her own. The trial being, those two boys. God knows what was running through their minds...__  
><em>

_Jane was not the sort of girl that had trouble making up her mind.  
>Lady in waiting or knight?<br>Swords or stave's?  
>Soup or bread?<br>The king or her heart?  
>Gunther or jester?<br>Jane couldn't even think about it.  
>Not about sweet, funny Jester.<br>Not about that mysterious, duel-sided Gunther.  
>The question was quite clear to her- Best friend, or rival?<br>But she couldn't find the answer to save her life._

A sudden clatter shook the two from their thoughts, and they turned to find the gardener, Rake, slipping hurriedly down the stairs, nearly losing his footing at the bottom. Taking a huge raspy breath, he spoke-

"They... they are taking him,"  
>"Who?" Jane demanded, ignoring Peppers' wild glances.<br>"Jester," Rake finished, "They are taking him to the dungeons,"  
>Jane felt a cold iron hand squeeze her insides, as fear met with disbelief.<p>

_Not real,_she chanted inwardly, in a wild attempt to keep calm.

_It is not real, it is not true. Jester is outside, talking to Gunther- Just look out the window. Rake is lying._ _But Rake never_- _Just look outside, Jane._

So she did: And she found three steely guards leading away a blue clad teenager, he was struggling terribly, and kept shouting something into the wind. Something that could make Gunther look as pale as a whisper and just as breakable, was definitely worth hearing, in their opinion; so they all leaned forward as they strained to hear them echo through the courtyard, like empty hollow music notes.

"You told! You promised, Gunther, you gave me your word!"

Jane felt sick. She could barely feel Pepper's hand on her shoulder and Rake's on her elbow, nor hear their plea's over Jesters'.

"You told me, Gunther. You lied to me,"

The look in his eye could make the stones melt to a puddle of tears as one of the guards raised his club and drew him silent with a sickening _crack._  
>Oh God. Jester.<br>Pepper gasped

"Oh, petal..." Jane let out a racked whimper, and Pepper wrapped her in an embrace in an attempt to keep her back. Thrashing, Jane tore loose, and ran outside, ignoring her friend's screams'. The sudden rain beat down on her with a bitter vengeance.  
>For a moment, she had hoped it was all a terrible nightmare. But there it was, happening right before her eyes. Yet, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene. A million questions came rushing through her head, the root of most all being- why? Why Jester? Why was he taken? Why, Why, Why? Seeing her best friend at that wooden pavilion waiting to hear his fate hurt more than any pain she had ever known, but she watched on, silently.<br>She knew it was the least she could do for him at that point-  
>deep down, she still wished she could do more.<p>

The king rose out of the shadows, to give his verdict, and Jane clenched her eyes shut. Gunther had broken away from the forces, and was now standing by her side. No doubt, to keep her from running through the crowd and bludgeoning every guard she saw along the way- as she was seriously considering.

"Go away," she hissed, her voice already losing the once wicked edge it had before.

"Not a chance," he hissed back.

The king cleared his throat,

"Today we gather to reveal a traitor. One among us, sadly..."

He began, addressing the gathering crowd below him.

Jane felt like screaming, but... her throat was not listening to her at the moment. Instead, her head flopped limply on the closest available shoulder, which unfortunately was Gunther's'. The boy flushed furiously, and stood straight as an arrow.

"...Squire Gunther has informed me, that this young man has been sneaking weaponry to our enemies. The Gypsies,"

Jane sat up and stared at Gunther, positively wide eyed. He gritted his teeth, and met her gaze.

_Please under__stand._ He hoped, furiously_. Oh god, please, please... let her understand. For once in her life, make her understand._

Outraged whispers echoed through the crowd, and the king raised one hand for peace.

"Therefore, I regret to inform you, that this young man to my left..."

_Jester,_ Jane thought, _Oh you fool. You bloody fool_.

"...is to be executed. As of tomorrow,"

Jane felt sick to her stomach; fury and despair tearing at her insides. She shoved Gunther aside and tore through the baffled crowd.

"NO, Jester!" she screamed, her throat finding it's voice. More than a dozen eyes turned at the furious red haired maiden that was glaring at the king,

"You cannot do this!" she finished.

But he just glared right back, with every bit of steel in his eyes as Jane.  
>"My decision is final,"<p>

And somehow, in a rush of blurs and cold glances, they were all gone.

_Oh if only it were that simple_, she moaned letting the rain fall in her eyes. _If only they knew how much they were taking away from me._

"Jane."

Gunther called softly,

"I am sorry. I...am sorry. I really am."

The girl just stood silently, very very still.

She tried to tell herself that she could survive. That she could get over this. No use. Gunther could see her trying. Trying so hard, not to unsheathe her sword and knock the prints off his fingers. Maybe he was sorry-

He wasn't sure what to think anymore.

_Maybe_, he contemplated, _I am simply going __mad. __Yes, that was it. Madness was far more explainable than L-._

_No. Not that word again. Yes, Madness would suffice._

_Suffice to explain that overnight the girl he had known for ages had grown into something much more lithe and glorious than her temperament would suggest. It would suffice to explain that he found himself watching her- watching the wild twist of her slender body every time she parried him. Or the impossible gracefulness of her hair swinging about her porcelain face like a red fire halo. Suffice to explain that for the first time in her life, Jane was beautiful to him. Completely and utterly breathtaking. Yet, she was impossible, she was domineering, she was erratically stubborn. Loyal._

_She was utterly and completely Jane._

_And for that, he was sorry._

_Not so much for the fact that Jester was to be executed, as that with him, a little piece of Jane would be as well. And she knew it. She knew Gunther Breech was the reason. The reason her best friend was to die._

_Die at the stake of his honor, KNIGHTS' honor. What a stupid thing she thought of it now, that it had caused so much wrong in the world._

Gunther watched as Jane's' shoulders heaved. If he did not know any better, he would have said that she was crying. He knew.

Clasping her sword, Jane swung furiously. Not at Gunther, But at the practice dummy in front of her.

"Stop, Jane," Gunther said weakly,

"Your sword, it is not... sheathed..,"

Jane was not listening_. Typical_. She chopped at the raggedy thing again and again, each time the steady blows echoed through the eerily silent yard. WHAM.

_That __is for Gunther_, she thinks cruelly_, for turning Jester in__- for turning him in after he trusted him_.

_AGH- he trusted him. And look where he was now! Oh God_, her stomach turned wildly at the memory of Jester's eyes as he... ZZZIP.

_That __is for the king, for sending Him to be executed... CLATTER._

_That_ _is for me. For__ being so foolish. For actually...SLASH._

_Jester. __That__ is for Jester._

Jane clenched her fist as the head of the poor abused dummy rolled to a stop at her feet.

_Oh, Jester._

_The boy who had given her hope- Her first set of armor._

_The one who had offered to be her dummy._

_The boy whom she had given countless smiles and he, in return, had smiled back._

_The boy that had given her her dream._

Jane whirled around suddenly, to face Gunther till they were practically forehead to forehead. He could see pure fury in her undying green eyes, and she could see a comatose-like fear in his raven brown ones.

_This is it,_ Gunther thought, _I am going to die._

But Jane did not raise her sword. Instead, she lowered her lips to his ears till he could feel her breath like dragon fire on his neck as she spoke low, and dangerously calm.

"I do not know what is to become of you, Gunther Breech, but I do... I know..."

_Breathe, Jane, Steady_, she reminded herself.

"I know you will not like what I have to do,"

And with that, she turned and walked away, leaving Gunther standing dumbstruck; as she turned to face him once more, death in her eyes.

"Do not try to stop me,"


	2. Would you be the one to run?

**A/N hey guys! Thank you SO much to lilyflower62797 for her lovely review :) well, here's the next chapter- I revamped it from last time so I hope this clears up past issues. Again, I know it is OOC, but then again, this is fan-fiction: it's fictional, and dramatic :D by the way, I will occasionally include a song that I feel captures the mood of the chapter, because it's usually the song I listened to while writing.**

**This chapters' are-**

**Show me what I'm looking for- by Carolina liar**

**Soil, Soil- by Tegan and Sara**

**Young blood- by The naked and famous**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**Every time you write a review, Jane's practice dummy will wink at you ;)**

**cheers!**

**LadyM**

* * *

><p>Jester sank back down to the floor of his damp, hopeless cell. He didn't know what he was waiting for, or who, for that matter.<p>

_Oh gods, _he relented silently,_ what have I done?_

_All that I have worked for, all my Life, all my l- he shook his head. He couldn't bear to think it.  
>It was all gone.<em>

_Everything._

_If rock__ bottom were a location, I would bet my__ hat this was it._

He raised his head to the small crack in the wall, where he could just barely see the courtyard of his childhood, in all its Grays and greens and memories- to the side hung a gallow from the cherry tree, right outside his bedroom window.

_Lovely. Beautifully ironic_, he mused.

Then- a flash of red caught his eye_._

_It could almost be... Jane...oh, Jane_. Jester gasped and straitened, straining to the light. _There she was, in all__ her Jane-ly-ness._

She collapsed on the swing, stiff, stubbornly refusing to look at the hangman's gallow that hung barely a foot from her porcelain face.

A small glistening tear shimmered down her cheeks and fell unto her hands. If jester had not known any better, he would say she was crying. Jester knew.

His heart cried out, and his lungs squeezed tight like a fist, but all he could utter was a strangled wheeze.

"I am coming at midnight,"

She spoke, clear and concerned, seemingly addressing no-one but the air in particular. There was a long, thick pause as Jester let her words sink in, at the reality of what she was willing to do.

"No". Jester whispered, suddenly finding his voice, "you will most certainly not,"

The only inclination he had that Jane had heard him, was a slight tilt of her head until She turned to survey the dark moonlit yard to check for signs of life- then lowered herself to the place where Jester stood crouched just inside the walls so quickly, that Jester fell back at the sight of Jane's voltic green eyes.

"Oof!" THUMP.  
>"Jester!" Jane hissed, "be still!"<br>Jester opened his mouth to protest but Jane cut him off, even though she could only see his eye through the wall.

"Don't speak," she murmured, "just listen-"  
>So he listened.<br>"Tell no-one that you saw me, or spoke to me, for that matter. I want you to be as quiet as possible, till then- it may buy us some time to esc-" her voice cracked, and she turned away.

"No," Jester answered, slowly, steel in his voice.

_No. Jane, registered, fury building up in her mouth faster than a swarm of bees.  
>No? Jane thought furiously, I am going to save his skin and he says no?<br>MEN._

"Shut up," Jane whispered, "if you do not come with me, Jester, I swear, I will _kill_you!"  
>She imagined his cloudy eyes widening in the blackness, and instantly felt acidic guilt churning in her stomach.<p>

_She knew in her heart it was not true;_

_She could not bring herself to kill him as much as she could stand to watch him die._

"So you die by my hand, die by the kings', or live- choose,".  
>Jester sighed, and watched Jane slip away, back to her tower.<br>He could barely hear the strains of dragon, asking Jane why she was talking to the wall.  
>No reason, she replied.<p>

The only thing Jester could do now, was think. _The __cruelest__ punishment__ of them all_, he mused_, fear clenching at him furiously._

_That women would do anything for anyone in need, just for the spite of it, thought he quietly. And the small nagging voice in the back of his mind, whispered,_

_'But... she did it for __you.__'_

-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-

Jane gripped the hilt of her sword and turned to catch one last glimpse at her great slumbering lizard.  
>"Goodbye, friend," she whispered, "Goodbye...dragon,"<p>

Her heart pounded, faintly- sadly.

_Dragon would be upset_, she knew, _but__ he would understand... he had to_.

And with that, she set forth; sliding through the night towards the dungeon like a sharp cooking knife of peppers would sink through butter.  
>At last she came to the door, heavily bolted and concealed behind the thick, green vines where she'd used to practice her archery as a child. Jane heaved the sword high above her head and brought it down on the lock with a slight CRACK.<br>She was in-  
>In the blackness.<p>

_God. It's... dark._ She mused frantically, feeling a stone-like fear well up in her chest. Still, she hardly paused a moment before sealing the door behind her and running through the pitch dark hell, alley after alley of cells filled with god-knows-what, searching for one thing, one person, alone.  
><em>Only one person kept her p<em>_ushing through the thick black curtains of ebony that surrounded her.__  
><em>_Only one person could be the light at the end of a dark tunnel.__  
><em>And she could see it- the silvery triangle of moonlight slicing through the dark dungeon floor like a sharp blade- light that could only come through a crack in a wall. Jane felt a flicker of hope somewhere deep, lost through the Burroughs of armor that clenched her chest- small, But it was there.  
>She sprinted through the darkness and peered into the cell she had been searching for- someone was waiting there. A boy, no, man, clenched the bars as tight as if they were the only thing that was tethering him to the blighted earth.<p>

He was thin- skeletally thin. His whole tiny, longitude of a body was encased in blue. He was tan, a smattering of brown freckles flourished on his nose, and huge dusk coloured eyes stared with perplexity at the squire. Perplexity mixed with something else Jane had rarely seen before- defeat.

"Jester," Jane breathed.  
><em>Had I been holding my breath<em>? She wondered.  
>Jester...<p>

_The boy, no, man, smiled at her, his heart constricting at the relief in her eyes. _

He watched in indifference as she sliced the lock cleanly in half and rushed forward to open the door.

"Why, hello Jane,"

"Oh You _Foo_l!" she exclaimed in a whispered shout.

Jester didn't even flinch. In an instant, Jane's face went from relieved to pure fury. She grimaced and lowered her voice to a halting hiss_._

"How could you do such a thing?" 

Thick, unbearable silence followed. 

"Such a foolish thing- Oh, _God_, Jester, of all the blighted things-!"  
>Still silence from the boy.<p>

Jane plowed on, growing more frantic. 

"I mean, smothering weapons... To outsiders! Jester! We are in a WAR. A bloody war. How could you possibly expect people, much less _Gunther, _to be rational, to show mercy, to understand?," 

Jester turned to look her in the eye for the second time that night, this time, the fury was his.

"Outsiders," he repeated. He laughed, a dry, mirthless thing that rattled Jane's bones, how unlike it was to the laugh she was used to hearing from her friend. 

"They are my _Family_, Jane, or they _were_. They were being killed out there," 

His eyes flashed in remembrance.

"What the HELL was I supposed to do? Sit back in this bloody place, kick my feet up and eat crumpets?" 

Jane flinched, as if she had been slapped, but he pretended not to notice as he ran his fingers through his hair. It looked Lonely and out of place without the hat they were both accustomed to. 

"No. I did what I had to. And then Gunther saw me- I was putting a couple of arrows in a hollow tree in the forest a few weeks ago... He promised to keep a secret. But now...I have no regrets, Jane,"

Never had a lie been so plainly spoken, and he knew it.

He went silent, and rubbed his wrist, feeling idiotic. Damn, he cursed himself silently, you lost it Jester... Fantastic job.

"I...

I am so... scared.

I cannot leave, Jester, I would sooner hang by your side than leave it," 

She lowered her voice to a murmur, and hung her head low, so that her crimson curls smeared the moisture across her cheeks.

She laughed, a dry and mirthless thing so ironically placed it was cruel, and lifted her head to look at him. He softened, he was losing all the stamina he had had before, and was weakening like jelly before her eyes.

"You do realize," He whispered, "That by talking to me at this moment you are committing treason, Jane? What... why, why would you risk it all? You are willing to leave everything you have ever known. For what?

You- you are going to kill your dream."

At this Jane smiled sadly, and stepped closer, so that her cheeks looked opaque and ghostly in the moonlight

"You have seen it, Jester, I know you have."

Things are changing, fast. They have been for a long time. First father, now..."

"You said your father was on an errand in the country!" he protested.

She gave a tiny shake of the head and Jester looked away, guiltily.

"I lied. He saved himself- and took mother with him.

They are gone, Jester. I wanted them to trust in me so badly all my life- and now that I have it... I am not sure if I knew what it was I was asking for. Because this-," she scoffed.

"This is not what I want. Kippernia is falling, Jester, We have not the money to go to war. King Caradoc is sending this kingdom straight down the abyss, and he is taking us all with him."

Jester stared straight into her eyes, struggling to not look away from them; so much like the sun, they were, to him.

"Then leave, Jane- Go. Now," he said aloud.

_Don't go._

_Please._

_Don't leave me_; His selfish heart protested. He swallowed hard, and ignored the stabbing pain coming from somewhere deep inside:

"You need not worry about me. I accept my death, inevitable as it is. Now go... please,"

It was then she looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time in what seemed like years; her head cocked quizzically to one side, with eyes so filled with despair that it broke his heart. She looked completely tragic and out of place- so unlike the knightly noblewoman she had been for all those years. So unlike Jane.

"You are going to leave me," She stated, her voice breaking, "

And... I could not stand it. _Cannot _stand it,"

An icy hand brought her chin up by two fingers, and she found herself staring into his eyes sadly. The two stood still, together, neither one acknowledging the passing time, or danger.  
>Jester whispered, low and raspy to the girl.<p>

"I would never leave you, Jane," he whispered.

In a heartbeat the girl was hugging him, no, _strangling_, him by his waist. Jester stiffened awkwardly at the weight, the realness of her through their thin, worn clothes.  
>Her damp hair brushed his cheek softly as she readjusted herself so he could hear every word she said.<p>

"Then come with me,"


	3. Would you be the one to follow me

**A/N Hey o! Nice to see y'all again :) Well, here we are, chapter tres!**

**Drabble-**

**I was dying to insert a little something from the king's perspective, so here is a tidbit. I love doing stories from multiple perspectives; it really helps you get the universalism of the situation. I am hoping the King's paragraph or so will come off as light and somber at the same time... which is hard. I am just imagining him looking down from one of those massive towers like the one in "Stardust", gazing over the war-torn land with expressionless, dire eyes... sigh :) okay,**

***Snaps back into reality***

**End drabble.**

**Anyhow, I have a one shot Called, "the First" which is also JATD, if you would like to check it out- it hasn't any reviews :( Whatever it is, just hit me with it- I'd rather negative reviews than none at all!**

**So these chapters' songs are:**

**Breathe me- Sia (For the Kings')**

**Time to pretend- MGMT (For Jane and Jesters')**

**Young blood- The naked and famous (for Jane and Jester's)**

**I would really recommend listening to them, they definitely emphasize the scenes.**

**PS- I simply could not resist the cliffhanger ;D**

**Cheers!**

**LadyM**

* * *

><p><em>One year.<em>

_One year and counting._

_One year of unnecessarily shed tears, unnecessary deaths, and unnecessary, unbearable grief._

_Oh, the grief. The rush of sadness, black attire and black skies that seemed to dawn the castle ever since his queen's death._

_It happened faster than he could catch his breath, that she was there one day, stroking his hair and whispering softly, and the next gone._

_Gone for a year, now._

_King Caradoc shut his eyes for what seemed the umpteenth time that day, felt the cool breath of wind on his eyelids, and heard the gentle roar of growing fires that licked the edge of the forest below him; The world below him, his kingdom, was an eternity away, the rift growing farther by the passing suns._

_He knew she would have understood._

_No, that was a lie; and not the first._

_She would be appalled._

_But it was they who took her, His poor queen, with the heart of a Saint. It was she whom had hoped to reason with them, to be the peacemaker, and He believing with all his heart in her charms, had let her go._

If he concentrated very hard, he could almost feel his beloveds' gentle hand on his face and her breath like a northern wind or a cool summer's day at the back of his neck. He could feel the shame and the anger, burning away still steadily, at his conscience; eating away all reason-

He heard the frantic pad of footsteps, threw open his eyes, and scrubbed away the snaking, singular tear that stained his cheek. He stared blankly out the window, looking over the war-torn forest and flames, and nodded slightly, as if to give the messenger permission to speak.

"Sire, the Jester has escaped. We have reason in believing Lady Turnkey to be his accomplice,"

The king smiled bitterly.

"Whatever makes you think that she is to blame?" he inquired.

"Her dragon, sire... The beast set fire to the valley not ten minutes ago," the man stammered.

King Caradoc took one last look to the chaos below him, and shut his eyes again, tight.

"Ah, But of course." he sighed.

_Let them fight, he thought wickedly._

_Reason be damned; Reason was lost a long time ago:_

_All had been lost._

-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-

They were running, and the only word that Jane could think of was mad.

_This mad, mad thing they were doing- so mad... And wonderful._

The two ran through the crisp cold earth, through a forest that reached out dangerously; threatening to swallow them at every turn. Boy and girl, kept their hands clasped and stood at the edge of the forest.

Below them hung the great wide ocean, like a portrait of blue wildness spread pure before their eyes.  
>Jane whipped back to see the rising smoke signals from the castle walls, and could hear the sound of horses being dispatched. She turned to Jester, and he saw fear, in her eyes. Something that he had never seen before.<br>And before she could even breathe a word of doubt, they were sliding down the side of the cliff, tumbling onto the sandy banks.

Jester pressed a finger to her lips, and minced to a small boat by the shore.  
>Jane rubbed her shoulder and tested her balance by trying to rise to aid her friend. In an instant, scorching hot pain shot through her left ankle- she let out a soft<p>

"Oh!"

Of surprise, and crumpled to the ground like a breath of wind.

Neither one seemed to notice the teen boy standing on the seaside cliff they had just tumbled down. The boy, that when looked at closely enough, looked peculiarly like a certain Gunther breech they had once known in that daydream of a childhood. The childhood so suddenly shattered by death and chaos; by the cold clammy breath of war and destruction drawn near.

The boy sought them with a face like stone- Jester spotted him, Jane being pre-occupied at the moment, and the two made eye contact.

Maggots, Jester cursed.

He stood very still, being sure to angle his body so that the squire would not see Ja- MAGGOTS!  
>Too late- Gunther's face paled suddenly, and he took off careening down the cliff at a terribly fast pace.<p>

"JANE" he yelled, "STOP- NOW!".

Panic coursed through jester's veins, and he knelt haphazardly at the girl's side.  
>Jester rushed to her side quickly, and grasping her by the waist, he hauled her soft, limp body to the boat and laid her inside.<br>Taking a look at her ashen face, more panic set in his own.

"Jane..." he murmured softly-

"You will definitely,"  
>He jumped in the small dugout with a bound and lifted the oar to his ear in effort to arrange it right<p>

"Infinitely,"  
>he clicked the oar into place and braced for the first row,<p>

"TRULY,"  
>Almost there, Jester...<p>

"Be the death of me,"  
>And with that, he set them out to sea.<p>

And with that, Gunther stared after them, broken.

_Was he..? He was. He was really considering it._

_You have betrayed him once before, what was twice?_ He mused.

One last raspy- "Jane", He spoke before he lifted his bow to his shoulder, aimed, and held his breath.

Right on the mark.


	4. By the light of the midnight sun?

**A/N Hello again, just wanted to clear up a few things along with this new chapter. I would like to reply to a review I received from "Callie"; since it was anonymous, I will reply, very quickly, here. **

**Dear Callie,**

**Thank you very much for your review, in the first place, but I have to say it made me very sad to hear that you feel as if I am not respecting the reader quite near enough, by my style of formation and grammar. I _assure you_, that is _definitely_ not the case- I deeply value your opinion, and every reviewer to this story. I spend a _very_ long time on my chapters, and I am _very, very_ sorry that they did not come to par. :( **

**As for the formatting, I apologize, I did not think about italicizing the character's thoughts, but I will try my best to do so, from now on, to make the reading easier. To be honest... I did not realize that I needed to, because I often insert the fact that they are thinking silently and not aloud, after the thought. I also realize that the narrative is a bit confusing, you see, it wasn't something I planned, really, but I wanted to insert it as kind of an extra... well, narrative. The narrator's identity, of which is not to be revealed quite yet, will happen every few chapters and I will make sure to separate it from the rest of the story next time.**

**Okay, so, now onto the punctuation. The one thing I will disagree with you about, is the quotation marks; as far as I can see, I have not yet made any obvious mistake in that area... As per the apostrophes, please correct me if I am wrong, my English teacher is extremely lazy in covering grammar, ironically enough; It was my belief, that the apostrophe placed after the Persons' name insinuates ownership. EX- **

**Jesters' hat, Janes' sword, Gunthers' thoughts: they belong to the person inferred.**

**However, when placed as so- Jane's, means, _Jane is. _Such as, 'Jane's going to the market'.**

**I could be, and probably am, wrong. :P **

**So, yes, My writing style may be a bit confusing to you, and I humbly apologize, for you had said that it was difficult to read, yet you have so far read it, and was also kind enough to review, for which I am grateful :) I am addicted to freelance poetry, so my use of run-off sentences and repetition of certain words are used to place emphasis on the poem, if not the story. They are often my weakness, and are probably the source of your confusion in my layout. I am very honored that you took the time to review my story, even if you did not enjoy it, and I _really do_ hope you will continue to read it. :)**

**Cheers,**

**LadyM**

* * *

><p>A <em>hissssss<em> soared through the air, an for the next five minutes straight, the only word Jester could think of was pain. Blinding,  
>scorching hot <em>PAIN<em>.

_I should wake her up, _he thought, shaking violently through the agony- But he didn't.  
>He lay, thrashing and silent, on the dank floor of the dugout and breathed. Hard.<br>He could feel strength draining out of him, and- _Ah, now come the flashing lights._  
><em>Now I REALLY should wake Jane,<em>was his last thought before all went as black as the sky around his head.

When Jane woke up, the only word she could think of was cold. The bitter, unending cold that seemed to be chewing away at her insides. Something was wrong, she could feel the panic in her very bones as she sat up, woozily, to look around. _First observation- It is dark_; the was sky strewn with ebony, with not a soul, nor star, in sight.

_Great_, she observes._ I have run from one dark place only to end up in another. We also seemed to be completely surrounded by water- oh, GOD. We are IN the blighted OCEAN._ _N__ot good,_ she panicked, She hated the water: even the thought made her arms burst into goosebumps.

She found her companion directly in front of her, An arrow... jutting out just below his ribcage.

"Jester!", she cursed under her breath, fear gripping her lungs into an iron fist. Jane swept her hair frantically out of her eyes and, with trembling fingers, began to remove the arrow. Jester moaned and thrashed his head, then- silence.

_Good_. She gulped back the bitter coil in her throat and finally pulled the reed free from his body.

There was blood. There was so much blood.

_He is dying_, she thought, miserably,  
><em>He is dying, and it is all my fault.<em> _Stupid, stupid, Jane. You meant to save him- and now he is on his deathbed. Stupid, idiotic, ridiculous, foolish Jane..._

Working quickly, she tore his shirt in half to expose the wound, reached into her small cloth pouch concealed beneath her belt, and sprinkled some herbs around the gaping cut.

She finally collapsed to her knees, and realized, with a start, that she was shaking, And... crying.

_Maggots._

Fury coursing like fire in her veins, she glared at the blood stained arrow in her palm as it rolled woodenly from side to side, flaunting once glorious scarlet feathers; Which meant... it could only belong to _him._

She knew that in battle Gunther used poisoned arrows._ A quick surprise_, she remembered him saying all those months ago, by the smithy.

'_Pain is inevitable', he had said, triumphantly, 'so, is death'._

_And everyone knew Gunther Breech never missed._

Feeling too angry and sick to think another single thought, she lay down shakily to set her head on Jester's stomach. The feeling of his barely rising and falling breaths, combined with the torrid waves of the ocean making her head spin.

She was in the middle of nowhere- in a boat, that was going nowhere.

She had her best friend by her side, Unconscious, but still- Jane had never felt more alone in her entire life.

The last thing she did before sinking into troubled sleep, was pray- A prayer that hoped that, for once, Gunther had missed his target.


	5. Would you be the one to catch me

**A/N This is my FAVORITE chapter! **

**Let me just say, that I have editted the living crap outta this whole story, so mistakes are, hopefully, extinct. ALSO! I am going to make this very clear, in this chappie, that this isn't a JxJ story. **

**I know, I know... things are not always what they seem. You'll find out soon :D cookies to those who do.**

**I did have some songs to list, but I am simply too lazy to post them right now. Just look for them in the next chapter. By the way... I had been working on this story for months and months and months, and this is as far as I have gotten. Hehehe... *Awkward embarrassed laugh* so I will cross my fingers and hope for a stroke of brilliance. by the way, the song Jane is singing is a poem of mine, called "the sailor and the mermaid". **

**I wrote the poem, I own it.**

**I... don't own Jane and the dragon, though. :(**

**Remember, oh dear readers, to review. Reviews make the clouds go purple... :) There fore, I hold you personally responsible for making purple clouds- lots and lots of them! (Good or bad, just hit me with it)**

**Prepare for the fluff.**

**LadyM ;D**

* * *

><p><em>Dear God, it is me... Jane. Jane turnkey. I do not know if you remember me, and I know I am not the most religious person, but...<em>  
><em>Spare him.<em>  
><em>Please... Spare him.<em>  
><em>Save him, please.<em>  
><em>I am sorry, I am sorry for going back on everything I had sworn to- I am not so sure I will ever see you, for that.<em>  
><em>And I know that jester is not the most religious person either, stubborn man. He never could put up his idols fast enough when I would barge into his room in the afternoons...<em>  
><em>Maybe we are both just rotten sinners, but, be that the case- take me first, Lord, me.<em>  
><em>Whether I die fighting, or be driven mad from the salty water, I did it for him.<em>  
><em>If there was one thing I have learned from mother, it is that you do not tear apart what you have brought together. If we have been brought together by sin, what does that make us now? I know the answer to that...<em>  
><em>It makes us damned.<em>  
><em>In that case, have mercy on his soul, oh Lord.<em>  
><em>Neither of us are long for this world.<em>

-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-

He was running, again, barely feeling the sting of the bitter autumn air as he shot through the courtyard; slicing through the dark. Then, he stopped- listened, waited, heard... the gentle flapping of wings as the great green beast landed on front of him, loudly still, even after many, many years of Jane's reproach. Gunther sucked in a breath, as the dank smoke began to fill his nostrils furiously.

"Dragon," he panted. "she- she is..."

"Gone," The creature finished, so calm it was eerie. On the outside he hardly looked concerned, those granny-smith apple coloured scales flexed and tensed through that muscly exterior of his. He stared at Gunther with all the regard of peeking at a pesky dormouse, and with all the hatred of coming across an enemy.

But his eyes, oh- the eyes were what killed him.

They were still the same amber shot through with gold streams that ricocheted around the circles of his pupils like cartwheels through the air... but God, they were sad.  
>It was as if the only interior of feelings dragons had, was shining through those eyes; as if Gunther was staring through to his very soul.<br>Great billowing clouds of smoke plumed out of his nose, as Dragon spoke in clipped tones to the small shortlife.

"Jane is gone, and you are still here,"

The dragon cocked his head, amused,  
>"You did not follow her,"<p>

Gunther swallowed back a bitter feeling in his throat,  
>"Why would I?" he questioned, sounding as if he were just asking himself the same thing.<p>

"Ha!" dragon snorted.

He leaned down close to the boys face, and Gunther drew up to his full eighteen-years of age height, feeling ridiculously miniscule at the difference.

"You love her,"

The boy's jaw tightened tersely, and he stared straight back. He hated the wise tone the beast had come to acquire after some years. Hated that he always thought he was right-  
>Hated that he was.<br>"I-"

He turned away towards the salty morning air.

"I- I do not know."

"But I do,"

"No, you do not,"

"Oh, but I do, shortlife,"

The boy whirled around furiously.

Dragon scratched at his claws and flicked a tiny piece of rubbish away nonchalantly.

"I am not stupid, you know," he chatted, "and I remember, the first time you sparred- you knocked her to the ground and she started to cry. So, being the lovely gentleman you once were back then, you helped her up. Remember what happened next?"

Gunther was starting to wish that he didn't.

"She pushed you into the water trough; for knocking her down. Then, being the lovely Jane she was, and is, she helped you up- just the way you had helped her. And, right then and there, she kissed you on the cheek. Ring a bell, Gunther?"

The boy paled. Oh, he remembered perfectly well. The uncharacteristically gentle kiss on the cheek. Him peeking, flabbergasted, through the damp curtain of black hair that hung in his eyes to see Jane, with that infuriatingly unreadable look in her smile, and a flash of blue streaking back to the gardens.  
>Jester wouldn't speak to anyone for a whole week. He would disappear into the forest for hours at a time... kept saying something about losing his muse, Not that Jane had seemed to notice that part. He might have gone on sulking forever if Pepper had not slapped him across the face at dinner, telling him to<p>

_'Get the bloody hell over it already!'._

Everyone had looked up from their parsnip soup to discover a wild-eyed cook, red faced Jester, and a staggeringly confused looking Jane.  
>Remember. Ha! How could he forget?<p>

"Bloody complicated woman." he murmured.

"But you love her. Ever since then, you have. I can see it in your eyes as we speak," Dragon stated.

Gunther leveled his gaze, and took a deep breath,  
>"So do you." the boy reasoned, emotionless, "and you are here still, as well,"<p>

Dragon flinched and widened his gaze for a fraction of a second. First came the look of surprise, then retained fury.

"Tell me, dragon- tell me where she is going,"

Pause, Then,  
>"She is gone, Gunther," his voice cracked, "there is no doubt she will never return to this castle- nor will I," dragon lowered his head and spoke on in a stern clear voice,<p>

"She went north. But-"

"But what?" Gunther snapped impatiently.

Dragon snorted and rose up on his hind legs,

"It IS Jane we are talking about, shortlife. She will be back soon,"

Dragon's heart broke, it did, at the look in his face upon hearing those words. He took on the angelic, almost naïve, eyes of a child; A child that had not yet experienced the loneliness, or the loss of innocence that Gunther had known oh- so-well.

"How do you know?" The he whispered, clinging fiercely to the light of hope that shimmered in the beasts words.

Dragon was giving him a bait: one that he was prepared to run to the ends of the earth and back for- One that could very well be the end of him.

"Think, Gunther," The dragon hissed impatiently, poised precariously on the edge of the ramparts, wings tweaked for flight.

"There's a war going on, boy! Have you not noticed yet?"

On that note, the great creature then gave a mighty beat of wing and rose into the air, until... gone; Leaving Gunther alone, with nothing but the wind blowing in his hair and the beats of a small thing he had not known, for a very long time indeed, flapping away in his chest.

His lips spread wide, carving a sunny shadow in his cheeks- He knew that feeling: It was hope. God, it was hope.  
>Of course she would be back.<br>Gunther mentally punched himself for not realizing it sooner- Jane had never missed out on a fight her entire life... There was not a chance on this earth she would miss a war.

-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-

Over the tips of three rocky mountains, over the crests of a million frosty edged waves, lies a boat, solid in the middle of an endless ocean. The boat was moving faster and faster yet, the rise of the morning sun threatening to swallow them whole. And at the tip of this boat sat a girl, perched and tense, as if ready to attack. She wrung her tiny pale hands shakily and stared forward, billowing copper- gold- hair clouding around her porcelain face.

The boy that lay in the belly of the boat twitched, his mouth arching towards something of a smile, when he heard her singing. He lay, frozen with relief, unable to move just yet.

Her words washed over his ears, her singing that was once high and sweet from years of practice was now mottled with an undertone of bitterness and longing. He closed his eyes, listening to the song he had taught her once, a lifetime ago.

_"A sirens song,_

_rising from the deep,_

_the sailor pauses to hear._

_Ne'er had he heard something so sweet_

_to aid his sea-lagged ears._

_Looking this way and that,_

_He threw off his hat_

_and jumped overboard with a shout_

_He sunk down into the water cool,_

_while, above, others mourned the fool-_

_Of his death, no-one spoke a doubt._

_there came days when they spoke of tales_

_Of a man and a woman, seen swimming along_

_singing the songs of the whales!_

_A man, looking like their companion once dead_

_The tales started spinning,_

_and now, of him, they said-_

_Once his weary boots hit the floor so blue_

_he saw a flash, and then his sweetheart, too-_

_face to face with the one he loved,_

_together, they swam away._

_And ne'er did a day pass when a child naught hear-_

_of the sailor and the mermaid,"_

Then, silence fell, with only the steady lapping of waves against the sound of the boat breaking the barriers. Jane stubbornly blinked away the shining in her eyes, and glared at her hands as if they held the key to her sadness that she was desperately trying to unravel.

"Jane?" Jester rasped, barely audible.

Jane gasped, and turned around slowly, hardly believing her eyes. What she saw was the same face she had known and loved, everyday for five plus years; but never did it look as beautiful, or as glowing, as it did at that very moment with the sea breeze curling his hair, and his eyes matching the blue celestial sky. He gazed into her eyes, a grin now filling his cheeks as she scrambled to her feet, sending the boat tipping furiously, in the rush to fall by his side whispering grateful nothings. He cupped her cheek in his hand, letting her laughter fill his ears, and the tears onto his shirt.

For a while they sat, letting the silence do the talking, until one spoke up.

"Jester?," Jane inquired softly.

"...Jane?" He replied, grinning.

"Why the hell are we in this boat?"

Jester chuckled and sprang to his feet, careful not to grimace at the sharp pangs in his side.

"_That_, dear Jane..." he began, sounding more and more like the Jester she knew. The boy's grin faltered, and he whirled around making the boat careen violently, and Jane let out a short protesting, "Oof!".

Grabbing the edges of the boat for balance and rubbing her head, she cocked her head quizzically as the boy grabbed an oar and let it sit in his hands blankly, as if he had hoped the oar would give him an answer. Finding none, he bit his lip, clearly at a loss.

"... Is an excellent question!"

Jane glowed as he held the rod high above his head and gestured wildly to the water all about them.

"We, are going to have to go on an adventure."

"Think about it- us, two weary escapees', a boat, and no plan whatsoever! And _those,_ are the best kind,"

Jane tackled him in a hug, and he chortled in an obviously embarrassed kind of way.

"Ummm, Jane?" He questioned, trying his best not to lose himself in all that fiery red hair.

"Mmmf," came the reply, as Jane propped herself up on her elbows, still lying atop the baffled boy in blue. They both smiled, in a small, ecstatic sort of way; Jester with his cheeks, and Jane with her eyes, as small drops of water glittered in the corners of her emerald spheres like diamonds in the morning sun.

It was then she kissed him, and his heart took off like a happy flitting sparrow, it's beats breaking through the caged bars of his chest.

_"Thank you,"_ she whispered, pulling away, nearly crying again at the gleeful look in his eyes.

"For what?" he whispered back, drawing her ginger hair away from her eyes that were boring into his like the sun itself.

"For being... alive," she choked, burying her face in his chest.

"Thank you, Thank you,_ Thank you_,"


	6. If I happened to know it all?

**A/N Hi guys! Oh my gosh, y'all are AMAZING :D purple clouds galore! Okay, this is the longest I've ever taken to update… ever :P this chapter was driving me nuts; I think I wrote about fifteen different versions of it before I settled on this one.**

***Please, bear with me, this chappie may be confusing! I promise, though, it will all make sense by the end of the chapter.***

**ALSO! *The "..." 's are my way of implying the changing scene, because I'm paranoid no-one will understand it***

**AND! *Little Jane, Little Gunther, Other Jane, and Other Gunther are still Jane and Gunther- just in the PAST, depending on which scene they are watching. Think of it as if Jane/Gunther is viewing themselves on a screen, kinda***

**Think Alice down the rabbit hole… with red hair :D **

**I would like to address some reviewers real quick:**

**Callie- I ****am so h****appy you liked it, and think that I've improved! :D that means a lot to me- hope you keep reading! **

**J- To be honest, I am a bit confused by your review, though I am glad you think my story has a good plot, Because this is a JxG story, even though it has a lot of JxJ fluff in there, it's coming along. Also, I have already written a chapter with Gunther and dragon in it, plus I have already stated that they are older than they were in the series. I appreciate the feedback, and hope that you continue to read. :D**

**ParanoidPiratePuppy- Aww :D Thank you so much! I was sad to hear that you almost cried, though I regret to inform you that Jester gets it pretty rough in this story… :P Thanks for your review, and I hope you continue to read! :D**

**This Chapters songs are-**

**You're a wolf- by sea wolf**

**Champion- Donora**

**Believe- The bravery**

**Night starts here- Stars**

**The high road- broken bells**

**I feel a little selfish asking for more, but please, send me feedback! This chapter has stressed me out to the max, so I would love to hear what you thought of it. Constructive criticism is welcome, just don't eat me alive! :O just kidding- you guys are great, Let's make the clouds purple again :D**

**Cheers! LadyM**

* * *

><p>Dear friend, as you know<br>Your flowers are withering  
>Your mother's gone insane<br>Your leaves have drifted away  
>But the clouds are clearing up<br>And I've come reveling  
>Burning incandescently<br>Like a bastard on the burning sea

You're just like your father  
>Buried deep under the water<br>You're resting on your laurels  
>And stepping on my toes<br>Whose side are you on?  
>What side is this anyway?<br>Put down your sword and crown  
>Come lay with me on the ground<p>

You come beating like moth's wings  
>Spastic and violently<br>Whipping me into a storm  
>Shaking me down to the core<br>But you run away from me  
>And you left me shimmering<br>Like diamond wedding rings  
>Spinning dizzily down on the floor<p>

You're just like your father  
>Buried deep under the water<br>You're resting on your laurels  
>And stepping on my toes<br>Whose side are you on?  
>What side is this anyway?<br>Put down your sword and crown  
>Come lay with me on the ground<p>

_I woke up standing in the garden, feeling strange;_

_My feet were strikingly bare, and my head throbbed like a hammer against my temples._

_All in a huge wave I felt unstoppably gleeful yet detached, like I was not really connected to my head at all, rather watching myself from above; and my heart was suddenly filled with joy-_

_I was home._

_Sweet beautiful home, with the ivy crawling around my window, a warm bed, and dragon sleeping just by the armory._

_Home!_

_I tried to run, to shout for Rake- but my legs felt like they were moving through molasses, and my throat cried out like it was twisted into two halves. I looked around in confusion._

_My hair was spread around me in a fire-like curtain, as if I were underwater; my white gauzy nightgown floated around me, and the air hung eerily still and black, the stars whispering their dark sky songs._

_I no longer felt strange, but scarily, terrifyingly, and deeply alone... typical._

_My blood suddenly ran cold, as if it were replaced with ice water that seemed to be pumping through my veins at a doubly fast pace._

_I knew... I knew I was no longer alone, not anymore._

_I swallowed hard, and turned around, wishing my lips would stop trembling so._

_I was wishing I was warm and safe... and did not know who was behind me._

_It was so cold, now- I could feel the breath on the back of my neck like ice shards piercing my nape._

_It was then I saw her, suspended, a whole head's height above the air before me._

_My blood stopped, but I knew I could not look away, not for the life of me._

_Just like old times._

_The ghost hung silently, her probably once-beautiful dress fluttered lightly, though I knew there was no breeze. It was a gorgeous thing, probably the only dress I had ever admired, woven through with gold streams and seven sea serpents stitched round the bottom hems, chasing each other in a never ending circle, their rubied eyes now glinting with an eerie silver glow. The lady's eyes herself bore into me like fire._

_I found myself tearing away my gaze, because I knew I would see him in her face. I knew that if I looked carefully enough, I would instantly make the connection between him and her..._

_The lady smiled, her teeth peeking out in a dull gray from behind her charcoal lips._

_I fell to my knees-_

"_Do not speak to me, please. Go away. Go back where you came from,"_

_I peeked out from beneath my clenched fingers, she was still smiling._

"_Oh, Jaaaa-aaanne," She sang, her voice careening through the air like a lilting wail._

_I felt the tears biting through my eyes,_

"_Do not say it!" I screamed,_

"_Do not tell me...Do not tell me that I let you down. Do not say that we were 'meant to be' ONE MORE TIME!" I screamed, my voice answering its own echoes in the empty courtyard. Only then did her smile falter, and she reached out to me, with a single iridescent hand._

_She tilted her head at me, quite obviously holding in a thought._

"_Dear Jane, You have forgotten already. Is not it sad what time does to us, Love? He barely even thinks of me anymore,"_

_I bite my cheek and turn away, breathing angrily until the suppressed urge to speak bursts out of me._

"_I do not know what you are talking about!"_

_One look at her eyes told me all that I needed to do._

…

_I grabbed her hand and tumbled through what seemed like ages of glass shards, the air crushing me at every side, my screams pressed flat by gravity till I hit the ground in a sad little ball._

_She was there, hanging solemnly by my side._

"_What do you see, love?" she lilted softly._

_I closed my eyes. I did not want to see it- the past, I mean. It would be too painful... yet, I opened my eyes._

"_I see… myself," I whispered._

_I, or should I say, little Jane, is standing in the courtyard with young Gunther. I know the scene instantly- it is Jubilee day, almost four years ago._

_Gunther's hands are covered in tar, and his eyes full of desperation... Little Gunther grabs little mine's hand, and I watch as my small face registers it slowly, her look of confusion replaced with one of frightened knowing._

…

_Suddenly I am tumbling again, thrashing wildly; and when I finally look up from the ground, it is dark outside._

_I see Gunther... standing in the garden, his pale youthful face full of something unidentified as he gently plucks a rose from the bed beneath him and encases it with wax paper. Taking one last look over his shoulder, he darts away. The lady and I run after him, my bare feet padding against the thick encased soil and cobbled rock as we find ourselves in the village graveyard._

_Little Gunther collapses to his knees at the very last one of the graves, small tracks running down his cheeks as he silently lays the singular rose by the headstone. I lean down to read the headstone, and weep as I see the weather beaten words etched upon the stone reading:_

_'Anamaria Kathleen Breech'._

_Then, right before my eyes, I saw the letters begin to itch and form new words…_

"_No," I cried out, looking to the lady for help, "No. It's not true,"_

_She merely blinked at me, her beautiful face shining with opalescent tears._

"_Jane, you have to remember- please remember," _

"_I do NOT remember! What are you trying to tell me? Please, tell me! Anybody!" I screamed, clawing at the blank night air, empty of the pale lady entirely. _

_I heard her last words hiss in my ears like beating drums, _

"_Remember he is not to blame, my love. Is not he always innocent, in the end?"_

_I shudder and scrub the tears off of my cheeks furiously, falling to my knees in front of the tombstone- its new face now reading 'Gunther Alexander Breech'._

_Then, the tombstone dissolves into the air and I am standing in front of him._

_Something catches in my throat as I reach out for his cheek, his smile striking a chord in my stomach, low and deep with sadness._

_I reach out to him, and he swings me around by the waist, our laughter lighting up the dark sky._

_I run my cool pale hand through his raven hair gently._

"_Why did you do it, Gunther?" I pleaded, "Help me understand."_

_He does nothing, standing silently with one arm clutched around my shoulders. Before I can protest, he grabs my hand. He grabs my hand, and I can see scenes rushing in blinding colors before my very eyes._

…

_I see the pale lady in one of the castle bedrooms, less pale now; Magnus Breech running a hand over her forehead and gripping her slim pink fingers like they were the last thing on the earth. Tears snaked down his cheeks as the lady opened her mouth to speak,_

"_Magnus…" she rasped._

"_Yes, love? Yes, what is it?" He pleaded._

"_The boy…?"_

"_Gunther, My love… your son,"_

"_Yes, yes" her face melted in a soft smile as she remembered the words, "My son…"_

_Magnus trembled, and gripped her hands tighter, sensing the end as she spoke on,_

"_Help him… succeed, Magnus. See that he succeeds. He does love it so…"_

_And all the light faded from her eyes, Magnus wept and tried to keep the sound of her voice in his heart, the unspoken "At all costs" hanging in the air. _

'_By God, I will. I am going to make that boy succeed, no matter the stakes' he thought bitterly to himself, 'At all costs'._

…

_Jane felt herself falling again; this time she saw a four-year old Gunther playing by the fire with his father, the flame-like hatred shining through Magnus's eyes at the boy that so resembled his lost love._

…

_Next, Jane sees herself and Gunther sparring in the courtyard- from not too long ago, really. He knocks her to the ground and she spits the blood out of her mouth, wearily. The other Jane blinks back humiliated tears from the dirt while Gunther looks sick with himself, staring at the gaping green and purple bruises on her ankles and cheek. Out of the corner of his eye he sees his father slink away, out of sight. Jane hears Gunther's thoughts suddenly pound in her mind-_

"_I still have not told her. It has been two days since father and I last talked… maybe he has forgotten?"_

_Gunther offers other Jane his hand, and the girl slaps him away, dusting herself off._

…

_The next scene shoots in front of her eyes; now, she is standing in the forest. A smattering of blue catches her eyes and she sees Jester, slinking to a single oak tree in the middle of the clear, his fingers clutching a handful of arrows. The boy slips them gingerly into a crook in the wood and whirls around with a gasp as Gunther snaps a twig behind him._

"_Oh! Ehh, Gunther! What-what-What are you, uh, doing here?" Jester sputtered._

"_Nothing." The boy grins, "You?"_

"_The same!" Jester answers quickly, backing away towards the castle._

"_Oh, Jester?" Gunther calls, emotionless, "You… dropped this."_

_He held up a finely woven arrow between two fingers._

_Jester turns as pale as… well, a ghost, and drops to his knees._

"_Don't do that..."_

_Gunther protests, beginning to look uncomfortable, and pulls him up by his shoulders._

_Jester stares up at him wide-eyed._

"_You cannot tell anyone, Gunther, please. I beg you," he whispers._

"_I swear- I won't on my life," Gunther replies, solemnly, and they both begin to walk away when Jester calls out again._

"_Treat her well, Gunther…"_

_Gunther stopped in his tracks, dumbfounded._

"_I mean it- Do not make me threaten you with a spoon again," Jester continued softly._

_Gunther turned around, absolutely pale._

"_How… how did you-?"_

_Jester smiled sadly. "A Jester never rests,"_

_He turned around again, about to walk away when Gunther shouted after him-_

"_Jester!"_

_The blue boy stood still, awaiting a response._

"_I am sorry," Gunther continued. "I really am". _

_And they were both gone. _

…

_Jane's head spun with questions as she was thrown into the next scenario in a dizzying blur- who were they talking about? And why did Gunther let him off so easy?_

_The next scene was dreary; she was hovering in the castle hall behind Gunther and his father, whom were arguing in forced whispers as they stood outside the door of the king._

"_You cannot do this, father, I won't allow you!" Gunther was hissing, his voice seeped with hatred._

"_I can," he returned smoothly, "And I will."_

_Gunther lunged for him, but Magnus threw him to the ground and strode inside the great hall; ready to face the king._

…

_Jane lurched and tumbled once again, and found herself on the seashore; cold white granules of sand clinging stubbornly to her fingertips as she brushed herself off and looked around; this time Gunther stood by her side, playing the viewer just like she was._

_On the beach in front of them, the other Gunther was slowly raising his bow and arrow to his shoulder, facing the small dugout that was tottering out to sea, and a silhouette of Jester, fumbling with the oars; he was poised to hit the boat just by the helm. It wasn't much- the hole would be just big enough to sink the boat so that the two had to wade back to shore; Gunther was just about to shoot, when a crackling "Hisssss!" ricocheted through the air and struck Jester down, square in the chest._

_Jane grabbed Gunther's hand and covered her mouth silently as the other Gunther turned around, dumbfounded, to find his father holding an empty bow emerging from the shadows._

_Other Gunther was positively trembling with anger as he glared furiously at Magnus Breech with such contempt that the merchant should have erupted into flames approximately five seconds before. Other Gunther clenched his fists tight, and threw his bow to the ground._

"_Once was not enough, was it, Father?" he rasped, "You just had to twist the dagger before he dropped dead?" _

_The merchant smirked at his son._

"_It was for the best," he snapped, "You know as well as I do that Jane would have chosen him over you, boy,"_

_Gunther gritted his teeth sharply, and his eyes flashed, as if something had just pained him._

"_Now she never will,"_

"_Of course she will- her family has given their word,"_

"_Then I revoke my own!" Gunther shouted._

_The merchant paled at this._

"_You cannot do that," He laughed, suddenly triumphant; "I am your own blood, boy! You do what I say you must!"_

_Other Gunther looked thoughtful for a moment, and then promptly punched him in the face._

_His Father doubled over coughing and spitting out blood as other Gunther grabbed him by the neck and raised him to meet his eyes, surprised at how easily he had overpowered the man who had held court on him for his whole life._

"_Damn you," He hissed, "You are no blood of mine. You are not my father"._

_They dissolved into the air strait before my eyes, and I turned to face Gunther._

_A single tear snaked its way down my cheek as he gazed at me with that infuriatingly unreadable look in his eyes._

"_Do you see, Jane?" He whispered, his voice fading in volume._

"_I… Gunther, I do not understand" I whispered uncertainly. "There is too much to know."_

_Gunther grabbed my hands, suddenly, "Then know this," he murmured._

_I reached out to touch his cheek, and saw his lips forming the silent words as he disappeared, fading like a setting sun._

_For the second time, I was utterly and completely alone._

_The ground beneath my feet gave way, and I crashed into the ocean, my flaming red hair spread out around my face like a halo. My thin white nightgown billowed around me in great swarthy plumes as my bare legs kicked wildly in a desperate attempt to reach the surface. I could feel the life drowning out of me by the second and I opened my mouth one last time, "GUNTHER!"_

…

Then, Jane woke up; her mouth puckered in a silent scream, feeling cold as death itself.

"Jane!" Jester crows chirpily, "You are up! Good- We have caught a wind. I do not know where it will take us bu-,"

Jester looked at the wild eyed squire in concern, "Are… You all right, Jane?"

She nodded her head mutely, and drew her knees to her chest tightly,

"I am fine, Jester" she reassured in a small voice.

She shuddered and tried to stop the flurried beating of her heart, rocking back and forth slightly.

Jester, whom had seen through her whole façade, sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders protectively.

_What is wrong with me?_ Jane curses, silently, _I like Jester. Maybe even… well, love him._

…_I think. _

Even with her eyes closed shut; she keeps seeing the pale lady in her minds' eye, pleading with her to remember something she wasn't even sure of.

She keeps seeing the merchant shoot Jester in the chest with that arrow.

And, for some reason, she keeps seeing little Gunther grasping her hand, his full of soot- over and over again.

"It was just a dream" She quietly whispers out loud, as if she needed convincing herself.

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><p><strong>The song is "Moth's wings- by Passion pit" (I couldn't resist- It's Literally, just like this chapter O_o)<strong>

**Disclaimer- Don't own the song, or the show :P *Grumbles Undistinguishedly***

**See! toldja it would make sense :) **

**...Hopefully...**

**I know, I'm not leaving myself a gap to continue in, but I'll get there.**

**...Hopefully...!**

**See you next time :D**


	7. Would you be the one to lean on

**A/N Bonjour! I know, fast update= short chapter :P I am feeling uninspired. Don't worry about it, though, I am never one for abandoning stories. Thank you to my two reviewers!**

**MissJane2345- I don't know, she could be… oh alright, she is. Cookies to you!**

**Kyra4- Thanks for your review! I completely understand, I'm glad we got this cleared up I do hope you continue to read, though there hasn't been much advancement on the J/G- Its coming soon, hopefully, if schoolwork doesn't eat me alive, again!**

**Ummmm, feedback on the dream chapter? only one regarding the last chappie. C'mon guys, I need ya to bear with me! **

…**please? The more you review, the more I will update.**

**This is mostly a filler/ transition chapter- after this it's gonna get messy.**

**Songs- **

**Welcome Home- by Radical face**

**Swimming in the flood- Passion pit**

**No-one said it would be easy – Feel good ghosts (Amazing song!) **

**Remember, dear readers, to review for reviews make the clouds turn very interesting coulours! Therefore I hold you personally responsible for making colourful clouds- lots of them **

**Happy February, all you lovelies! LadyM**

* * *

><p>The sun beats down in shimmering diamond rays as the boat puffs diligently towards the tiny green nose of land in the horizon. Jester looked over excitedly at Jane, but she just lowered her head and gripped the side of the boat even tighter; so tight in fact, that her knuckles turned white. She stayed like that for an hour, in the exact same position; never moving a muscle until they touched the crystal white bay Jester finally said "Jane!" in a loud enough voice that she finally looked up, a forlorn look in her eyes. Jester held out his hand for her to step out of the boat, but she ignored it and climbed out of the boat silently. She almost felt bad for the awful rejected look in his eyes, but she remembered her dream.<p>

_Is nothing ever as it seems?_ She muses bitterly. It was the thought that had kept her awake the entire previous night, because she was too afraid of dreaming again. It was the same thought that had wracked her brains to shreds on the whole of the way to the far shore of Kippernia, as Jester had estimated. They were now on enemy territory. A splitting rustle shook her from her thoughts and she and Jester both looked up to find a troupe of nomads standing in front of the brushes just ten feet away from him. The leader drew his sword and pointed it directly at Jane's heart.

_I have my answer now, _she smiles half-heartedly, trying to ignore the fact that her life was nearly seconds away from coming to a shrieking, bloody close;

_Nothing is EVER what it seems._

-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-

Gunther grabs the rusted old hilt, and races to the top of Jane's tower. He lifts his calloused palms to the heavens and swings the Receiver high above his head till the other-worldly sound pierces through the afternoon air.

_Please come_, he thinks frantically, _please, Dragon, I need you. Damn it Jane needs you. She does not need me, even I know that. I have, and always will be, the boy she sparred with. _

_But, Jane- God knows where she is; probably out getting into fights. Just like her, too._

_She may never need me… But I need her. I need to see her face again, just once;_

_I am going to find her whether she likes it or not._

_Though first I will need a ride, DRAGON!_

The mighty beast lumbered through the air towards him, an air of silent understanding at Gunther's frantic demeanor. Dragon lowered his head and Gunther climbed aboard, feeling a pang of sadness at the spot that had always been Jane's.

"I see you took my words to heart," Dragon chatted amusedly.

Gunther nodded from atop the beast's head.

"Take me to her, Dragon,"

So away they flew.


	8. If I trip and have to fall?

**A/N Bonjour again! Thanks to Kyra4 for her awesome review :) Just wanted to let y'all know, the select few that have added this story to their story alerts and have not reviewed, You know who I'm talking to! *Waggles eyebrows* ...Reviews would be quite lovely :) **

**1. The nomads are speaking Yiddish, which was a language derived from the Anglo-saxons that first inhabitted england waaaay back then, so when Jester says they are speaking in the old tongue, it's the truth. You can translate if you wish, but I'm not sure if there's an absolute need to.**

**2. I probably won't be updating this weekend, sorry! I won't keep ya hanging!**

**3. Have I mentioned Cliffhangers are my very best friend? ;D**

**Lotsa Love, LadyM**

* * *

><p>The cold steel pointed directly at both of their hearts seemed to wake them up much quicker and ruder than any amount of ice-cold water could have.<p>

"Wwʼás ʼyz dyyn tyyatş pwn zyyaʻndyq dʼá?" the man speaks, his words stumbling roughly and ungracefully off his tongue like rocks.

Jester gives Jane a frightened look,

"They are speaking in the old tongue," he whispers in amazement out of the corner of his mouth.  
>One of the men calls out from behind him,<p>

"Zyy tʼán nyt rʻdn yyidyş, Hans!" the man widens his eyes in disbelief upon his comrade's words, the furs of his surcoat rumpling in the breeze.

"Zʻnʻn ʼyr dʻm zşwlyq qyṗṗʻrnyʼans?" he murmurs to himself.

And like an answered prayer, the man lowers his sword.

Jane breathes deeply in relief; Jester squeezes her hand for a moment to comfort her and Jane pulls away sharply, keeping her eyes on the man in front of them.  
>The foreign man blinks readily at them and licks his lips, searching for words that seem to be failing him. Finally he finds it, the simple word stumbles out feebly and shaky but it's meaning intact to the both of them.<br>"Come,"  
>He turned his back on them and they followed, wearily but steadily, seeing no reason to anger these people again.<p>

Jane and Jester padded over the crystal white sand, following behind the troupe into the belly of the forest away from the bay, and even farther away from their home.

They pushed through layer after layer of thick forest branches, the sound of strange laughter and the mingling smell of pinewood and roast lamb becoming thicker in the air around them with every passing breath. Finally, they arrived in the camp. Pitched make-shift tents in every color imaginable dotted the green grass randomly for as far as the eye could see. Even more so, the people covered every square inch of land; the sudden crowd making Jane feel painfully small and more lost than ever in the mob of women, cackling from tent to tent, the men polishing their swords deliberately, and the children dancing around the fairy tree, maple sugar from the trunk smeared across their glowing cheeks like luminescent dust in the sunlight.

Jester looked around in amazement- Jane stared at him in perplexity, annoyance shining through her eyes. Jester blended in almost directly with the people around him- and he knew it, too.

_Jester… is home_. Jane mused silently, her heart thudding dully inside her chest.

_So where am I?_

Jane ignored the nomad's wide-eyed looks; some of amazement, others of distrust. They were stranger than any people she had ever seen before; the men had the ripe juice of the summer berries smeared across their cheeks like war paint and they wore singular colors in multiple shades, like green or blue or crimson. The women were even more strangely dressed; their hair hanging far past their hips, shot through with daisy stems and the wild hue of carnations. Their dresses were far shorter than any of the ladies at court would ever have dared, trimmed with glimmering shades of colors that Jane had never even seen before- and…all the women carried swords.

Jane sucked in a breath_. I must look very strange indeed; everything about me, drab- compared to these people._

_But here_, Jane realized_, I am no-one special. For once, I am not the only lady knight in the continent. _

The old language, as Jester had put it, flew from their lips and met in the air, creating a rather shockingly alien atmosphere.

Jane shuddered- she was not used to feeling so out of place, and she hated it. She absolutely hated the feeling that every inch of her body was already being scrutinized, opinions being made- even when she hadn't yet the tongue to defend herself!

She felt a surging tidal wave of homesickness, for what she was not sure of;

_It could not possibly be longing for broken Kippernia. Couldn't possibly be for arguing tirelessly with mother through those last few months. Couldn't possibly be for sparring… sparring… sparring with- no._

_Maybe, _she contemplated, _I am simply going MAD._

_Yes, that was it. Madness was FAR more explainable than… that word._

Jane lifted her eyes to the mingling scene around her, blurred in the corners from the sudden rebel tears that formed in her eyes. She stared straight through the smiling gypsy girls that smiled silently at her and kept her eyes firmly attached to her leader's back.

The man led them through the winding crowd of people to a large crimson tent at the very center of the camp. He pushed his way through the flaps, and the two followed, finding themselves in the darkness until the leader lit a match and held it to a candle, the rosy glow spreading throughout the room.

The man stared blankly at them and opened his mouth to find the words with obvious difficulty,

"Who, are you?" He rasped finally.

Jane and Jester exchanged confused looks.

"I am Catonius, sir, son of the Halwells," he spoke,

The man grinned widely, revealing wildly crooked teeth, "The Halwells!" He exclaimed happily.

"You… that makes sense," He continued in broken English, "You... are the rogues from… Kippernia?"

Jester nodded, slowly, unsure of what his answer would bring him.

The man just grinned even wider, and Jane recoiled inwardly.

_This man is willing to welcome traitors to his own people? What kind of place is this?_

"I, am Hans," he stuttered, and called over his shoulder in his first tongue, "Lʼawwynyʼa! Qwmʻn dʼá!"

A tall, slinking, dark- haired woman scurried from the shadows. Once the young lady stepped into the glow of the candlelight, Jane's heart stopped.

"This," Hans beamed, "is Lavinia, My daughter,"

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><p><strong>AN Um, just for the record... I have no idea where I came up with that cliffie. the plot bunnies are taking over me XP be kind and Review, Please :)**


	9. When the world takes a turn for worse

**A/N Aloha! **

**Here's the next chapter- it's a monster!**

**And… please, guys, all I'm asking for is ONE review. That's all I need. ONE review a chapter is not asking for much, so please, I work extremely hard on these chapters, and the silence is slowly killin' me **

**Just a warning- I nearly lost it and cried all over the keyboard towards the end of this chapter. I know, I know, I'll just say I'm sorry, so, so sorry, in advance! I have grown to love the little couples in here and it's really wearing on me!**

**Also, there is a "Downtown abbey" reference in this chapter- cookies to those who get it right **

**Also, again, there are THREE references in chapter six that I COMPLETELY forgot about!**

**To how to train your dragon (More for the books than the movie)**

**To Jane and the dragon episode "Three's a crowd" (I think that's the right one, correct me if I'm wrong)**

**Aaaaand, to Doctor who, a tenth doctor episode! (Kudos to you whovians! :D )**

**Cookies to those who can tell me when/where/how they are used in chapter six- I'll reveal them next chapter, so claim the prize… **

**This chapter's songs are:**

**Maps- the yeah yeah yeahs**

**Energy spent- Liam Finn**

**Make you feel better- Cashier no. 8**

**Okay, well I won't nag you about reviews yet again for like the third time in this paragraph, so I will close by saying I hope you had an AMAZING valentines day, single or not (Hey, I'm single, and I had a pretty decent day!)**

***Fingers crossed***

**Share the love! LadyM**

* * *

><p>Jane stood perfectly still, her mouth puckered into a perfect O of surprise as Jester paled.<p>

"She will take you to get changed," Hans announced, "Can't have you… looking like that for tomorrow,"

Jester looked away from the girl, flabbergasted, "What is tomorrow?" he questioned.

Hans put a hand on the worn down metal of his sword hilt, an uncharacteristically serious gleam in his eyes

"Tomorrow," he spoke, "We fight,"

Jester paled some more, as Hans strode out of the tent, back into the light; leaving him and Jane alone with the mysterious woman who called herself Lavinia.

The lady hurried out of the tent, beckoning for them to follow. Jane and Jester raced after her, taking two steps for every one stride she took through the chaotic mass of gypsies. Lavinia stopped at a gloriously velvet royal purple tent and held the flap for them to duck inside. Jane stooped and then straightened to look at the scene around her, and couldn't help but gasp; the royal velvet that adorned the outside was now streaked through with deliberately let in sunbeams that shone their rays on trunk after trunk of rich looking fabrics, dresses, and sewing needles.

_Something is off here- _Jane concludes silently, as their host silently drops to her knees and holds out yellow leggings and a jerkin for Jester to change into.

Jester flushed a delicate shade of red as he brushes his hand against Lavinia's when he reaches out to grab the garments and hastily ducks into the neighboring tent without uttering a word.

Lavinia whips around, curiously, to meet Jane's eyes.

Jane fought with all her might to keep the astonished look out of her eyes as she found herself staring straight into the eyes that so resembled the princess she had left behind. Her wide pink lips pull into something of a smirk as the sunlight shines on her pale flawless cheeks, making them look opaque. Her huge maple- brown eyes scan Jane slowly, deliberately, as Jane stares at her with nothing short of fury in her own eyes.

"The boy…" Lavinia says suddenly, in perfect English lilting with an unrecognizable accent.

Jane glares stubbornly at her, "Jester," she finishes.

Lavinia straightens up and strides across the room, her chestnut colored hair rippling down her back as she rummages through one of the innumerable chests.

"I thought his name was Catonius?" She teased over her shoulder.

"His name," Jane spat, "Is Jester."

The girl laughs as Jane clenches her fists tightly, her fingernails carving moons into her interwebbed palms.

"Who are you?" Jane snapped impatiently, and the girl turned to face her silently.

"You know who I am," Lavinia lilts softly, "I heard my father himself introduce us,"

Jane softens a bit, and unfurls her fists.

A small burst of sadness echoes emptily deep in her chest, as she stares quickly at the floor.

"You look like someone I knew, once…" She whispers, her confession ringing dully in the summer air.

Lavinia straightened up slowly, clenching some fabric tightly in her fist; as if she were afraid it would up and fly out of her hands, into the skies unknown.

"She was my own sister, she was," the woman murmurs. She spun on her heels, her arm outstretched towards Jane, the bundled up dress concealed between her fingers.

Jane stares at her with wide eyes, and takes the dress slowly, as though she felt she was, somehow, doing something very wrong. She blinks suddenly and clutches the dress to her chest, feeling the soft sun-worn cotton weave between her fingertips as soft and cool as water. Lavinia closes her eyes.

"The queen of your kingdom," she spoke quietly, before Jane even had the chance to ask.

Jane's stomach closes in tight, and she feels utterly sick to her stomach for a moment, wringing the poor dress even tighter into a roll with her fist.

"But, the queen-," Jane quivered, "The queen is…" she trailed off.

"Dead," Lavinia finished, louder than what was necessary, her brown eyes flashing in the sunlight with anger, "Get dressed," she ordered simply.

Jane cocked her head, dumbfounded, her head swimming with questions. To sum it all up, the most prevalent question being-

_What? _

But the dangerous look in the Lavinia's eyes threw her off kilter again, and she ducked her head to avoid those terrible auras of sadness they were omitting.

Jane stepped jerkily behind yet another tower of trunks and pulled her soaked and faded orange training tunic over her head, gratefully. She stripped off the rest of her clothes, held the dress high over her head, and let it fall, closing her eyes in gratefulness for the deliciously clean fabric that shimmied down her back in cool rivers of earth-worn linen. She realized in embarrassment that she had quite forgotten altogether what it had meant to be clean.

She fumbled for the ribbons that criss-crossed across her back in annoyingly complex patterns. She stuck her arm awkwardly behind her back to try to tie those blasted ribbons and faced Lavinia again, remembering her mission. The mysterious woman pursed her lips in annoyance at Jane's obvious battle with the simple summer dress, but made no move to help, making Jane flush in anger.

"If she was your sister, as you say she was, why did you not help her?" She demanded hotly, "Why did you not save her- your own flesh and blood?"

Lavinia glared fiercely at the redhead, who was now bent over her knees in a fruitless attempt to retrieve the back ribbons.

"I did try," She whispered, and Jane raised her head up thoughtlessly.

"You do not believe me," Lavinia stated plainly, her voice tinged with irony, "But you must realize that not all choices are ours to make, Jane"

A small rustle snapped both of their gazes to the entrance.

Jester had pushed his way through the flaps again, and was now standing, oblivious, before an angry noble and a disoriented Jane. He strode over to her immediately.

"Here," he murmured, dodging a wayward elbow, "Let me-"

His fingers raked the curly blood- red hair from her back and floated over her back like the wings of a ghost, she shuddered at the memory. Jester grasped the two black ribbons and tied them gently into a makeshift bow. Jane stiffened awkwardly-

"Thank you, Je- I mean… _Catonius_" she whispered, emotionless, swept his hands quickly off the back of her neck, and wrung her own nervously.

Without saying a word, she kept her eyes trained on his face as he flinched suddenly, as though he had been stung with something sharp, and watched as a tinge of red strangely-calm anger crept into the hollows of his caramel cheeks. A shard of guilt pierced her stomach and she felt hopelessly, desperately lost, all of a sudden.

_God, Jane,_ she thought miserably to herself as she watched Jester walk out of the tent, _what is WRONG with you?_

Lavinia stared at her, without a trace of smugness in her eyes, "I think you already _do_ realize what I mean, Jane."

Jane scowled at her, "What are you saying?" she hissed in a low, terrifying voice.

Lavinia remained unfazed, "You do not love him," She stated knowingly, as Jane's eyes grew wide as spangles, her mouth opening in wild protest.

"Though the boy himself loves you a great deal, I can tell," She affirmed quietly, as though she meant it to lessen the blow.

Jane shook furiously and crossed her arms so tightly across her chest it looked as though they might snap off entirely. She felt as though ice water was closing in on her from all directions and her throat dries as she attempted to find the right words… words… words- _Words to WHAT?_

_What, Jane- Words to defend yourself?_

_You have not got a defense! You have neither rhyme nor reason! _

She shook her head, woozily, feeling trapped- and then, defeated. She felt the floodgates inside of her snap, wave after wave of fear filling her mind.

_Was I really seen through so easily? _She wonders quietly.

Jane stared up at Lavinia with starkly scared deep green eyes- an abyss of pure green, filled with questions that would probably never be answered, and pains that no-one should ever have to see, much less, experience.

Lavinia silently took Jane's hand, and rubbed her thumb over the crease of her palm contemplatively, her brow furrowed slightly.

"He is already dying, Jane," She whispered, "very quickly,"

Jane flinched, but remained with her hand encased in Lavinia's.

"From… a poison, perhaps?" The woman asked, and Jane shut her eyes.

_Poison. Of course Jester would not think to tell me. He would rather die in silence, NOBLE, than tell me that his insides are being eaten alive from that bloody arrow. How noble, yes. Just like Jester. _

Her stomach lurched-

_Same old Jester. _

"Listen to me, Jane," Lavinia hissed, holding the girls face firmly between her palms,

"Hans is my father, and your queen-" Her voice broke, "…was my sister. That much is true, but believe me when I say however long Catonius lives, is how long _you_ shall live," she finished, hysteria burning in the tips of her voice.

Jane clenched her teeth and tried to pull away but the woman held fast-

"What I mean, is that my father is kind only to his own- not to foreigners, not to rogues, and not to traitors," Lavinia snapped, "For this long he has treated you kind, because he has recognized Catonius as one of our own family, a son of the Calwells,"

"_Jester_," Jane hissed, weakly, "His name is _Jester_,"

Lavinia ignored her and plowed on, "Catonius will not survive the battle, if he survives the night, anyway," She murmured unsympathetically, she stared gravely into Jane's eyes, "But _you_, young Jane, are no-one."

"The moment Catonius dies, Hans will kill you as well, seeing you as you are no longer important to any-one… well, alive,"

Jane jerked from her grip at last, her stomach lurching wildly.

"You," Lavinia stated, "are the only thing that is keeping him alive,"

_No._ Jane thought frantically. _Do not say it… Do not say it._

"You must keep him living for that love, petal-"

"Do _not _call me that_,"_ Jane lashed out, reveling in the look of hurt surprise in Lavinia's face.

"If you want to live, and more-over, if you want _him_ to live," Lavinia plowed on urgently, "You must keep him fighting… for _you_,"

Jane slinked over to the entrance of the tent and fingered the velvet flaps gingerly, wishing that she could walk out- not only of the conversation, but of her whole life, as the gravity of Lavinia's words slowly seeped deep under her skin.

_Is this not what you wanted, Jane?_ She mused bitterly to herself.

_Did not you want the chance to save him?_

_Yes! _She answered miserably inside her head, _But not like this- never did I want to save him like this._

"What you are asking me to do is wrong," Jane rasped, her voice as low as her spirits felt.

Lavinia shook her head, "Wrong… maybe; But kind, yes"

"It is not kind!" Jane snapped, "To keep him alive out of the spite of a love that does not love him back?" she lowered her eyes to the floor, and finally to her pale bare feet stained with the colors of the earth.

_You saved him, once. _She thought, slipping out into the darkening afternoon camp.

She wove through the thinning crowds of people, the noise was no longer as chaotic as before and no longer as cheerful; as mothers and fathers sharpened their countless swords and axes, the silver of their blades shining in their children's frightened eyes as Jane slipped by like a shadow of the night.

She found him at the center of the camp around the dwindling fire, his hair gleaming like dancing gold threads in the flames. Jane slowed down, her heart slamming forcefully against her throat.

Jane sat down on the log next to him, silently, and he lifted his head from his hands and stared deeply into the flames of the hearth, red and gold licks of fire mingling with his dusk-blue eyes that glistened in the night.

Jane sucked in a deep breath, her lungs rattling as she searched for the right words.

"I am dying, aren't I, Jane?" Jester whispered, his voice grated into airy rasps. He said the line like he was not so much asking an innocent question, but stating a fact.

_God save him, _Jane prayed desperately, her heart splitting into two.

She stroked the golden hair away from his forehead, a whisper of a small sad smile playing in her lips. Jester raised his head to stare expectantly at the ginger haired girl, the way the glow of the hearth made her look opaque, as if a slip of wind would blow her away before he could draw a breath; he gazed at her with nothing short of heart-breaking longing in his eyes.

"You are not dying, Jester," she whispered, her voice cracking from her reassuring tone into something of certainty.

"You _cannot_ die," She rasped, pressing her palms against his smooth tan cheeks.

Jester smiled contentedly and raised his hand to rest against the girl's hands that were holding his face so desperately that it looked as if she feared he would fly away.

He pressed his lips gently to hers and she melted into guilt, her heart torn into tiny ribbons as he withdrew and rested his forehead on hers to gaze into her eyes silently.

"Jester, I…" She sobbed, trying to smile up at him through her tears. Tears of what were supposed to be joy, that were, in fact, of sadness.

"Jane," He interrupted frantically, his voice taking a serious tone,

"I have loved you all my life. You know that, don't you?"

Jane felt crushed.

_Aye, I knew. I had known for a very, very long time,_ she admitted silently.

Jester pushed back the curtain of red hair from the girls face, and held her as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I know," she whispered into his ear.

_God save my soul, _she prayed, for the second time that day, _for this is one sin that cannot be forgiven._

"I love you, Jester," she murmured.

And he held her in his arms until she fell into a wracked sleep, her head still resting on his chest. Her head full of guilt, love, and regret- one singular thought tormenting her dreams to no end;

The only voice she heard for the rest of the night was Hans's, saying,

"_Tomorrow, we fight."_

_Tomorrow_, she knew, _was when everything would change._


	10. When the air leaves my lungs

**A/N Hello there! I want to thank Kyra4 for her amazing support and loyal reviews- I hope you readers out there have noticed that I changed the category, and all rest is explained in the summary :) She helped me realize that it isn't really fair of me to categorize this as JxG when nothing has really happened, until soon (Spoilers…) So yes, this is JxJ in the beginning and JxG in the end- something for everyone, if you wish :)**

**just give it a chance- I hope you like it… :D**

**Also, last time I asked for reviews- but I have finally worked out the use of the "Traffic stats" button on my profile, and I realized that I have had 429 hits and 104 visitors this month, and 409 hits and 150 visitors last month on "This story alone". It blew my mind. A total of Two-HUNDRED- flippin'-fifty-four people have read this story. 254 living, breathing, (Dancing?) X) human beings! And that made me feel pretty darn awesome, reviews or not. **

**You guys are amazing! :D**

**So, here is where things get messy. And, well… teary (At least on my part!) **

**This chapter is brought to you by-**

**-Fingers! TM**

**-God, who gave me the gift of the pen; it is to him I give the credit. :)**

**This Chapters songs are-**

**Tulip- Jesca hoop (It's an AMAZING song! I may include it in one of the later chapters, cuz it screams folky beauty and sorrow- all in all, it's quite haunting)**

**Victim of the crime- Phoenix**

**Thank you guys so much- we're more than halfway there!  
>Hugs N' Butterfly kisses,<strong>

**LadyM**

* * *

><p>"<em>Jane…" so<em>meone hissed, piercing through the foggy barriers of her dreams.

Jane moaned and pressed her face to the worn surface of the log, _"Gunther?"_ she murmured.

The voice chuckled, "No, love, it is Lavinia. Who is Gunther?"

Jane shot up like an arrow and blinked the sleep out of her eyes to the misty, humid dawn, searching groggily for the lady that had awoken her from a dream to pull her into a nightmare. Her heart seemed to sink into the very soles of her feet as she surveyed the smoky and chaotic scene around her, war cries piercing the air from a short distance away. Gone, were the singing children and laughing grandmothers; today there remained only the sturdy of age mingling somberly about, swords clamped to their sides and steely disdainful gleams in their eyes.

_The war_. Jane realized.

Lavinia sat grimly on the log before her, adorned in a short blood-crimson gypsy dress with peculiarly long sleeves consuming her arms. She looked amusedly at Jane, her paler- than- normal face looking sickly and stoic with her chestnut locks falling in heavy curtains around her face. She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and handed her a cool metal sword offhandedly.

Jane groaned and picked up the dragon blade, her throat catching suddenly.

_Dragon, _she thought longingly, _I am sorry. I am sorry that it had to turn out this way, but this is the way things are… now._

Jane sprung up then, realizing something that made her blood run cold, and whipped around frantically.

"Where is he?" she yelled at the woman, "Where is Jester?"  
>Lavinia scolded her silently with her eyes and glanced over her shoulder before rising to her feet.<p>

"Hush," she hissed firmly, and Jane grasped the hilt of her sword, clenching the word handle like a vice.

"He is fighting, with all the others," Lavinia admitted with glassy eyes.

"_Damn." _Jane cursed wildly underneath her breath. She turned and ran, leaving Lavinia screaming wildly after her, crimson curls bobbing wildly around her line of vision.

She ran faster than she ever had before, her feet pounded the earth, throbbing inside her ears like a battle drum. She ran through the clear- straight into the forest, dodging tree after tree, and then the occasional limp body as the dark scent of sweat and death pierced the air like a shot.

Jane stopped running and froze, barely breathing, the scene rushing in slow motion whipping colors around her, as she turned around suddenly and met a guard of Kippernia's sword resounding with a hollow, metal-

"_CLANG!"_

The man's eyes flashed at her as Jane spun and ducked and thrust her sword smoothly through his shoulder, slicing back her blade and tearing away like a shadow as the man collapsed to his knees behind her, dead.

Jane could see the gypsies fighting with terrible ferocity all around her, their brightly colored surcoats mingled with the stain of blood soaking through their flesh. They met the king's army blade- for-blade, death- for-death, and much, much more.

It was then she saw him, flashing his blade through the air, moving with speed she had never even seen him attempt before. She fled to his side, hurling over dead bodies, dispatching any being that tried, in vain, to strike her down.

Jane found herself not five feet from his side, practically drenched in the raw energy and nerves that poured from his every move, seeing them getting slower and slower, his defenses weaker and later. She opened her mouth to scream-

"_NOOO!" _

But the whole world fell silent around her as she saw the knight's sword plunge straight through Jester's stomach, the blade sticking sickeningly through the other side of his back. Jester's eyes opened wide with surprise, almost disappointment, and then he sunk to his knees and flopped limply over on his side, shuddering for breath.

_No. _

_God, no, Please- no._

"JESTER!" she screamed again, her voice finding its sound as the scene suddenly picked up speed and rushed inside her ears as she collapsed by his side.

"Jester-" His eyes went glassy with warmth as he glimpsed the frantic redhead knelt over him, his face softening as if he were falling asleep, "JESTER!"

"DAMN it, Jester!" she screamed, turning his face towards hers, "Do not give up on me- WAKE UP!" she sobbed. Jester smiled and lifted a singular, bloody hand to her cheek and she cried out, grasping his arm as though she could somehow tether him firmly to the earth through it.

"Jane…" He rasped, "Do not cry, please-"

But Jane only sobbed harder.

"Shhh, Jane," He whispered, his voice getting smaller, as though it pained him to speak.

"Go… but-" he rasped, "Promise me- promise me, that you will be happy… please, Jane-?"

The light was leaving his eyes fast, and Jane's breath faltered,

"How can I be happy?" she pleaded meekly, "How can I be happy without you?"

Only silence answered her.

"Jester?" she whispered meekly, pressing his hand into her cheek.

The boy gazed dreamily at the redhead, his eyelids fluttering in an obvious attempt to not give into the pain that nipped at his heels.

"Do not cry," He begged weakly, "P…Please…"

He smiled softly, and thick opalescent tears rolled down Jane's cheek.

"Farewell… Lady Knight," He murmured gently, his voice almost like a whispered promise.

The look that overcame his face was ghastly serene, he might have even been sleeping to anyone who did not know better.

The light left his eyes.

_No._ Jane disregarded frantically- Her heart screamed in utter turbulence to the violent danger around her, but she could not seem to draw away from his side.

She felt her heart wench unbearably- leaving his side would mean that it was real; she would be openly acknowledging the death of her best, and possibly ONLY, friend in the entire blighted earth.

Leaving his side would make it terribly, staggeringly, real- not just another nightmare that plagued her heart.

_Oh Lord, _her heart cried out- _why was it not me?_

A few yards away, she watched as Hans withdrew his sword from another fallen guard, bloodlust gleaming in his eyes as he sought her out through the battle smoke and death.

He drew closer.

Jane could feel the breath of her enemies down her spine as she held onto Jester's hand fiercely, pain like she had never experienced before ripping her mindset to shreds.

Trembling, she let go.

Jane whipped through the battlefield, leaving his body farther and farther behind with every passing step. Foot after foot, the battle drums pounded in her ears again, dominating her every move to escape, every body she struck down with her blade, and every shuddering whisper of air that passed through her lips.

Jane ran, and ran, and ran, shredding inconceivably far from through the forest, ignoring the huge sudden shadow that engulfed her from the heavens above.

She had reached a clear.

Jane dropped softly to her knees, her lungs crying out, but she ignored them;

Ignored how exhausted her legs felt-

Utterly disregarded the pain that clawed at every fiber in her being, reaching their bony fingers at her, succumbing her to be as bone- tired as a skeleton buried in the ground.

_Why was it not me? _The small voice whispered from the pitch dark hollows of her mind.

She let the last tear trickle down her cheek, wiped it away, and frowned.

_Was that-?_

She sprung to her feet and raised her face to the heavens.

_No-_

She reassured herself savagely- but no matter how she tried to ignore it, the steady whisper of wings from above still roared in her mind. She held her eyes shut, refusing to turn around and be disappointed.

Jane heard a strident "_THUMP", _from somewhere behind her.

_You have to turn around, Jane. _She pleaded with herself.

_No._

_On the count of three-?_

_No._

_One…_

_Two…_

_Three._

She turned around and found herself gazing straight across the clear into the eyes of Gunther Breech himself, Dragon standing augustly behind him.

_Gunther. _She repeated silently, her mouth drooped, dumbfounded.

_GUNTHER?_

He stared at her purposefully with those dark grey eyes of his, his jaw barely resisting the steady curve of a heart-breakingly relieved glow of a smile.

"Jane," He called out tentatively, as though he wanted to test whether she still answered to that name anymore or not.

"_Gunther?" _Jane breathed.

The battle drums pounding, Jane found herself running and hurling herself into his arms, her own swung around his neck, and feet a good foot from the forest floor, her breathing wracked with silent tears. Gunther felt his heart burst open and clutched her tightly to his chest, his hand pressing into the nape of her neck, flattening the flaming red hair to her back.

She smelled of the country air itself- mixed with the air, smoke, and soot of the battlegrounds, yet Gunther could not bear to pull away.

He held her as though he would never let go- not in a million years.

"It should have been _me!_" She cried brokenly, muffled from his shoulder.

"Jane?" Gunther responded, thrown off key, an uneasily eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Silence, as he gripped both sides of her face to see as a single glimmering tear snake its way out of those tormentingly beautiful sea green eyes, and trickle silently down one pale porcelain cheek smeared with the rusty trail of dried blood.

He fought to keep his composure, looking into those eyes, biting back a disgusted fury to tear apart whoever had broken her beyond worldly means.

"It could have been me, Gunther," She stuttered loudly, raising her face to the cloudy sky to blink back the stubborn moisture out of her eyes.

"It _should _have been me," Jane trembled.

Gunther wrapped his arms around her again, wiping away those tears with his thumb, too afraid to look back into those broken eyes.

He held her and realized that there was no possible way on earth that he would ever let go.

_But, this is not JANE anymore, Gunther- _a voice sounded despairingly from the pit of all reason, _this girl is so much less. So much weaker than the Jane you knew before. Who knows who she is NOW?_

Gunther shook his head, wistfully stubborn, careful not to bump her shaking head that rested on his shoulder, knowing his answer with all of his heart-

_This is Jane now, and this is ME now._


	11. When my life changes course

**A/N Hey guys! I want to thank ya for the lovely reviews :D (I was cracking up that most people seemed much more excited over the JxG than concerned for Jester's brutal killing!)**

**To name a few reviews- **

**Anon: I'm so glad you liked it! I've seen your reviews all around JATD so I was psyched that you dropped me one. Jane and Gunther forever, my friend :D**

**Answeris42: Kudos to you too, I was psyched to hear that you enjoyed it! :D There will be more chapters, but not very many left to go, now.**

**Kyra4: Thanks so much for your unwavering support- I owe you… a lot!**

**Unknown- Thank you for giving me the determination to plow on and finish this chapter as soon as possible. I hope you read it!**

**You guys Rock my socks!**

**I have got hits from the U.S, Canada, Australia, Romania, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and the U.K!**

**Heck, those are all the places I want to go to someday!**

**Needless to say, this chapter is MUCH more delayed than I had aimed for, I know. There are many reasons…**

**One, being: I am completely terrified that the JxG interaction will be ALL wrong and OOC :P so, I stressed. This was at first, (Shocker) a completely JxJ piece, but I decided to sway for both JxJ and JxG right before I started posting the first chapter- and my brain is addled :(**

**Another thing, being: it is very difficult to get a hold of the laptop when you are bound by strict unspoken family laws to share it with your younger siblings… :O **

**Um, sorry bout that. You don't wanna hear about my weird life… *Clears throat awkwardly* well, here's the chapter!**

**The song is-**

**Little talks- Of monsters and men. (Kinda cheerful, for the chapter, but the lyrics struck me familiar.**

**Hope it's OK- LadyM**

**Reviews would be love, but simply seeing that people are reading this is just as great :D**

* * *

><p>Some days I can't even trust myself<br>It's killing me to see you this way

There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back  
>I tell her that I miss our little talks<br>Soon it will all be over, buried with our past  
>You used to play outside when you were young,<br>Full of life and full of love

Some days I feel like I am wrong and I am right  
>Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear<p>

'Cause though the truth may vary  
>This ship will carry<br>Our bodies safe to shore

Go go go away  
>I wish you'd disappear<br>All that's left is a ghost of you  
>Now we're torn torn torn apart, there's nothing we can do<br>Just let me go, me against you  
>Now wait wait wait for me<br>Please hang around  
>I see you when I fall asleep<p>

* * *

><p><em>Gunther remembered when they had first spotted her, when she went streaking through the forest like there was a devil on her tail. He remembered nudging Dragon enthusiastically, not that he need to, of course- the beast had already seen her and was beginning to dive precariously for the forest floor.<em>

'_What if,' _he had worried, '_she does not recognize me?'_

A silly thing to think, now, he knows.

_But he remembered the doubts rushing through his mind as they went down, down, down._

'_What if she does not wish to see me?'_

'…_What if she has her sword?'_

And lastly,

'_What if…she hates me?'_

_Though the fact that they were declining shook him rudely from his thoughts; declining so fast, that Gunther was sure they were a hairsbreath away from a crashing death with the earth- until Dragon pulled up viscously, the wind speeding around them like a funnel squeezing them through the air._

_His heart caught in his throat when he caught sight of her up ahead, shoulders heaving and panting from the strenuous run._

_He remembered landing on that mossy floor and jumping off of Dragon's back with all the restrain he could muster, when he saw her kneeling there- shaking and praying on her knees, refusing to turn around._

_Typical Jane._

_He could see her in his mind's eye as clear as day; her rising slowly from the ground and standing before him, looking like a mythical forest spirit with her bare feet, emerald eyes gleaming, mouth puckered open in shock, and her alabaster skin shining underneath that silky dress of hers in all its colors of white hued with purple and green and blue shimmering in the dusk breeze. He commemorated the single tear track that ran glistening down her cheek, its reason unbeknownst to him_- yet.

_She looked wild, broken, and haunted- she looked anything but Jane._

_He recalled the way she had thrown herself into his arms, shaking and crying, _

"_It should have been me," over and over again. _

_It was that, that scared Gunther the most._

_It was that singular cry that shook him mercilessly from his sleep, making him shoot up in the dark of night just to check if she were still breathing._

And now he watched her as she slept, curled up in the green grass; with her hair spread about the green like a red fire halo, fists curled tightly to her chest, and her fluttering eyelids shut- dreaming of things he could only hope to know.

He lay his head down on the grass beside her, studying her face over the rubbery grass stems that tickled his cheeks. She looked so peaceful, but every moment or so she would tremble or fidget as though some ghost thought were still plaguing her endlessly.

_God, _He speculated silently, _what happened to you, Jane?_

Behind her lay Dragon, snoring softly, his beryl scales flashing dully in the shy morning rays of sun that cast shadows and beams askew and shimmering through the forest; it was like looking through the glass mosaic panels of a cathedral into a mystical scene of a forest.

_In his minds eyes he could still see her, all those years ago, flashing and parrying and thrusting her wickedly sharp sword in such a ferociously beautiful display that it looked as if it belonged in paintings._

_He could still see her red hair swinging about her face, curtaining those laughing vibrant green eyes; the face that used to be so full of youth opened wide to let an offhand comment slip loose, causing Dragon to snigger and Gunther to flush in embarrassed anger._

Gunther shook his head, trying to shake the stabbing of regret and sadness that had settled in his stomach.

The voice daunted him, a bit louder this time, sounding curiously like his father-

_Where is your Jane now, boy?_

A week ago, he would have known his answer.

Gunther gazed silently at the sleeping Jane once more, his throat catching fire.

_I do not know, _He admitted silently.

_I do not know._

Gunther slid his worn hunting tunic off his shoulders, and let the thin cotton of his under-shirt see the light of day.

_I do not know where she is, _he echoed dully, letting the thought roll and drip off into the caverns of his mind.

Gunther breathed out slowly to calm his pounding head and rose quietly, his dagger clutched firmly in hand, stalking off through the tree branches in search of landmarks.

_But damn all reason if I cannot find her again._

-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-

Jane was still dreaming when he came back, dirt smeared across his shirt and a gash gaping all through one side.

Gunther held his breath and silently nodded to Dragon, who had one eye cracked open and was lazily gazing at him suspiciously over the sleeping girl between them.

Gunther sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck as Dragon drifted back off to sleep.

_He felt more alone than ever._

_With all his heart, he wished he could talk to her… to just hear her voice again. But he simply could not bring himself to shake her awake- not when the waking world had proved so painful for her._

Suddenly Jane stirred, thrashing her head back and forth in the green grass, her lips whispering nearly inaudible words.

"Gunther," she murmured, and something in Gunther's heart struck a chord. He knelt beside her, shaking her shoulders as gently as he could manage with his heart pounding strickenly in his ears.

"Jane…" He hissed, but her eyes remained shut. "Jane!"

"They are killing him. _No_. they… they… Gun- _Gunther_…" She moaned feverishly.

"Wake UP, Jane!" he yelled, feeling sick inside.

_Wake up, _he pleaded silently.

"_Please, Jane…" _he breathed shakily into her ear, combing back the damp red hair from her cheeks.

_I need you… to wake up- for me._

Jane gasped hugely and shook upright, ramrod straight, as she finally drifted back into mental consciousness.

She took deep stuttering breaths, propping her arms behind her as Gunther sighed loudly in pure unprecedented relief.

Jane stared straight ahead at the trees for a good five seconds before she seemed to notice Gunther sitting, his raven eyes wide open and concerned, beside her. Her cheeks flushed hotly as she fidgeted to make sure her dress were not off kilter and stood up with all the dignity she could muster.

"Good," he uttered weakly, "You are awake."

Jane remained silent and nodded slowly, as though she were afraid any faster would spin her head clear off her slender neck.

"What were you dreaming about?" Gunther pried, steel suddenly carving the edge in his voice. He rose off his knees and gazed at her expectantly, with her back still turned to him.

"Nothing," she breathed, crossing her arms.

Gunther's eyes flashed and stirred like a dormant storm as he slung his knapsack over his shoulder, feeling the terrible anger swell up in him again like an incurable fever.

"Nothing." He repeated emotionlessly.

He strode across the clear leaving Jane standing silently, a look of and annoyance flashing in her face at the sound of his unreadable tone. She was completely unsure if he were simply echoing her, or simply MOCKING her.

_Typical Gunther, _she concluded silently, as she settled on mockery, her cheeks warming in a kind of quiet untrained anger.

She watched mutely as Gunther rapped Dragon's head with his knuckles.

"Morning, lizard," he twittered.

"Mornin'… breakfast…" Dragon huffed dully.

Gunther gave him a final tap on the forehead, and strode over to Jane's side as Dragon finally lumbered upright.

He bent down to retrieve the long, thin metal weapon from the ground where it had fallen the night before, when she had fallen asleep on his chest, his cheeks flushing slightly at the memory. Gunther outstretched his arm and handed Jane her sword, trying his best to avoid her accusing eyes.

"Let us get a move one," he stated, "Best not to stay in one place for too long in… conditions like this,"

Jane stared hazily at the sword in her hand, not moving a muscle. Gunther shook the niggling note of worry from his back and padded over to her.

"Jane?" he inquired softly.

"Mm, yes?" she answered.

"You…" Gunther paused, searching for the right words, "You _sheathe_ the sword, Jane, like this…"

He gestured to his own sword that hung and gleamed loyally at his side like an old friend.

"I _know_ what to do with a sword, you arse," she snapped.

Gunther smiled, much to Jane's obvious chagrin, glee biting at his heels. For just a moment, he saw a flash of the old Jane- the Jane that never let him got away with a joke, the Jane that defied all laws for her own dreams. The Jane that never, ever, gave up.

He had seen that Jane again.

_Atta girl, Jane._ He cheered inwardly.

_Keep fighting._

He kept grinning dumbly, until he recognized the look of hurt that replaced the fury on her face. He sobered quickly, guilt slapping him squarely in the face.

"I am sorry," he apologized quietly, searching desperately for any signs of lenience on her part. All he found, however, were two stony green eyes staring at him in confusion, two flushed cheeks, and two pale pink lips pursed tightly at him.

She turned, without saying a word, to walk to Dragon's side.

Striding steadily and silently, they set off through the forest unknown.

Gunther lagged behind, watching Jane slip lithely across the miles as the Dragon lumbered, not nearly so gracefully, beside her. The two exchanging friendly glances and looks that seemed to talk for themselves the whole way.

Gunther raised his head high, and walked on, through the guilty churning in his gut.

_I am sorry, _he echoed silently, watching Jane's slender torso lean against Dragon for support.

Never once did they spare him a glance until an hour into the trek, when Dragon grumpily insisted that they stop and rest.

"… For _Jane's_ sake, of course," he added quickly.

Jane smiled wistfully at Dragon as he curled up and went to sleep once more, almost instantly.

She turned around lazily, her skirt swinging about her pale knees gracefully; her eyes slightly widened in surprise, as though she had forgotten he were even there. Gunther smiled hopefully, and stared dully at her in shock when something he had never seen her exhibit before flashed across her face- guilt.

"Jane…" he broke the silence, "Will you…"

She gazed at him mutely, well-retained fear etched into her paled features.

Gunther trailed off, searching desperately for the correct words. Finding none, he breathed out defeatedly.

"Please," he finally pleaded, inching closer to her across the clearing, "Please, Jane, I need to know. What happened?"

He was now right in front of her, and she averted her eyes towards her bare aching feet, heart humming dully in her ears.

_You should have known Jane, _She attested herself inwardly-

_He was bound to ask you, sooner or later._

He took her hand in his, and as lightly as a breath of wind would trickle over a stream, enclosed her small milky pale fingers in his rough tan ones. Jane's words caught in her mouth and were left unsaid, her mouth agape slightly, feeling increasingly distracted under Gunther's inadverted focus; his amber eyes taking on a seriousness she had never seen him attempt before.

Jane exhaled calmly, her exterior completely indifferent to the jumbled mess of confusion that had built inside of her.

"I broke into the dungeons," she admitted, no regret tracing her tones, "I found him, and convinced him to come with me… away from Kippernia. Away from the war…"

_Away from ME, _Gunther cried out, yet not making a noise at all.

"We ran, and we saw the knights following us- but we had had a good start. He found a boat, and tried to get away. I had twisted my ankle and blacked out on the way down the cliff, so he must have carried me there," She murmured, an unreadable look shining in her emerald eyes. "He did not say so, but when I woke up, I found that he had been shot," Her voice broke, "With an arrow."

Gunther closed his eyes as she turned hers to face him.

"I thought it had been you," she whispered, never lowering her gaze.

Gunther bit his tongue, not knowing what to say.

_How could you not have suspected? _He cursed himself, as the malevolent look of his father that night flashed in his mind, _she is clever. _

_She would have recognized the arrow, even if it was not you who shot it._

"It was not…" He trailed off, dully.

The father-like voice was back, whispering in his ear.

_This is where it ends, boy! _

_What makes you think she will believe you?_

_How could she possibly hear the words from the one whose own arrow she found impaling her companions chest in the early hours of the morning?_

"I believe you," Jane asserted fiercely.

"You… you do?" He stammered.

_She DOES?_

"H-how?" he inquired, joy replacing the cries of sorrow in his chest.

Jane bit her lip, thoughtfully, rolling the words around on her tongue.

"I… had a _dream, _you see…" she uttered.

"It was your father," Jane stated quietly, "I saw him. I realize that sounds ridiculous, but I did. I saw a lot…"She trailed off, glancing at him briefly.

"You saw me?"

Jane nodded mutely.

"I saw everything…"

Gunther stared at her in amazement.

"I believe you," he closed.

A small smile played briefly at her lips, as she spoke on.

"It was after Jester had gained consciousness," she continued, "he… I… um, then… we, reached shore not long after. Hans and his troupe found us at the beach. They called us the _rogues," _shechuckled bitterly.

"He had a daughter, Lavinia," Gunther raised an eyebrow, and Jane shot him a knowing look.

"I learned that she is, or she claims to be, the princesses' aunt," Jane explained, a stinging tone hinting underneath the folds of her voice.

Gunther nodded calmly, holding her hand ever cool and gentle by his side.

"She told me…"

She closed her eyes shut, the papery thin eyelids and golden red eyelashes fluttering slightly as if they were witnessing the memory all over again.

"She told me that Jester was already dying, of the poison," She whispered, barely out loud, "She told me, that Hans would no longer have me in their company if he were to die. She told me, that to keep him, and myself, alive, I needed to make him believe that I loved him back,"

Gunther stared at her, wide-eyed, clammy iron hands squeezing at his chest.

"So… I did," she rasped, her breath shuddering for a moment.

"I told him," She breathed, "that I loved him,"

Gunther closed his eyes.

"When I woke up, he had already gone to fight with the first brigade, Lavinia told me- so I ran after him," she stated quietly, the story folding off her tongue like layers of bitter-sweet silk.

Gunther squeezed her hands, trying to register her words as painlessly as possible.

"I followed him," she continued, her breathing growing wracked, "And I saw him die, right before I could reach him," She cried faintly. "…I watched him die right before my eyes,"

She pulled her hand away from his and wrapped them around her elbows, rocking slightly left and right, in a demure attempt to calm her frantic heart.

_Jane. God, Jane. _

Gunther heart wrenched for her, and he curled his hands in the absence of her own to fill his palms.

He suddenly wished he could go back, before any of this had ever happened, before he had to hear the last thing he wanted to.

"Jane…" he called her name softly, "…Did you love him?"

Jane flashed around at him frantically.

"Yes-" she admitted, then changed her mind "…No. Yes… oh God, Gunther, I did,"

She paused, and Gunther's heart stopped.

"…I did love him, _I did,"_

Gunther smiled sadly, his lifeblood suddenly pumping in his ears morosely.

_The truth at last, _he mused somberly.

"…But not like he loved me!" she cried abruptly, "I did not love him like he loved me. I could not love him, when I love someone else…"

Something took flight in his chest, a thing he had rarely felt before then- it felt like hope.

"You blame yourself," he stated, and her eyes lowered in remembrance.

"It was not your fault, Jane," He pleaded, "What could you have done?"

"_More_," She snapped. "I could have done so much more-"

"But I did not," her voice laced with bitter acid regrets, "What did I do, but lead him on?"

Gunther stood, wishing he possessed the words to help her.

"Jane, look at me-"

She refused.

"_What _could you have done?"

Her eyes darkened, and he touched her elbow carefully.

_Listen to me, please, Jane._

"I do not know," She lashed finally.

"You did him no unkindness. Do you believe me?"

She spoke not a word, the look on her face saying all he did not hear.

"I do not," she murmured.

"He loved me. He was all I had left- at the time. And, I suppose… that is why I let him think I loved him back. After the dream…" Her voice broke.

_The dream?_ Gunther processed, the feeling of hope beating furiously in his chest, now.

"Jane…" Gunther pleaded longingly.

She pulled away from him, moisture shining in her gleaming eyes, her cheeks flushed like a blooming rose.

"What does it matter?" She cried dryly, "He is dead."

She blinked at the heavens.

"He is DEAD. Two seconds earlier, I could have been by his side. I could have saved him. He would not have to die with my lies ringing in his ears,"

She clenched her teeth, hands hanging limply by her side.

"But he DID. He deserved so much more than what I gave him. He did not deserve a lie!"

Jane turned then, running into the forest, the sound of her feet drumming steadily in his ears.

"JANE!" Gunther yelled after her, his heart crying out.

He clenched his fists to the sides of his head, running them through the curling pitch- black hair that hung over his temples.

"_Help me!" _He prayed loudly, his voice echoing angrily through the forest around him.

"_God…" _he shouted, his face tilted towards the sky, now teeming with gray-blue clouds.

"_What do I say to her?" _He pleaded.

"What _can _I say to her?"

He did not even hear Dragon's strident footsteps behind him.

"The TRUTH," Dragon retaliated, his voice suddenly booming, frightening Gunther.

"The truth won't help her, Dragon," He snapped, then softened his voice a bit. "God, I do not know how to help her," he murmured.

"She is broken," Gunther breathed, the words hanging in the empty air between them.

"Correction," Dragon chirped, "She is _wounded_."

Gunther stared at him, doubtfully.

"Being broken is forever. Broken is being beyond repair_… wounds_ heal with time," Dragon rumbled, wisely.

"Not all wounds," Gunther whispered softly, striking a sad note that rang throughout his entire body.

"True," Dragon negotiated, unfazed, "but _most _wounds,"

He left Gunther there, going off in search of Jane, leaving Gunther breathing slowly and deliberately- as if for the pure spite of living.

Dragon's words echoed in his ears,

"…_wounds heal in time…" _

Gunther closed his eyes; the feeling of hope that had been buried so deeply in his chest, as of late, breaking loose, shining weakly in the dark chasm of his mind's eye.

"_Wounds heal… in time,"_

He echoed out loud.

Gunther broke into a run, barreling in the direction Jane had ran.

_Thank you, Dragon-_ He thought inwardly,

_Thank you._


	12. Would you still be by my side?

**A/N**

**Hey guys!**

**This is it.**

**The moment I have been dreading for… nine months :(**

…**this is THE LAST CHAPTER! **

**I spent NINE whole months writing this story, and to be honest, I am VERY glad it's finally over with. I wasn't ready to take on such a long, crazily structured plot like this- and I don't think I did HALF the justice I could've done with this story…**

**I rushed it; it was clumsy, awkward, and was really much too impulsive.**

**I was stubborn, yet God gave me the blessing of all these amazing people around me, to remind me how much He has done for me. **

**I give all the credit to him- it is not mine.**

**You can follow my Fanfiction page at: Twirling acacia . tumblr. com (without the spaces), for background info on ALL my stories (this is still a work in progress, but I found a picture that really goes with this story!) X)**

**So, I want to thank you dear reviewers, with ALL my heart, for sticking with me through all the awkward, stumbling craziness:**

**TheManyFacesOfJester, and SunRise19- you guys were with me since the beginning- literally. Before I got this story to show up properly, even. I don't know if y'all are still reading this, but THANK YOU, for being my FIRST EVER reviewers!**

**Lilyflower62797- I know, I know, I put off your shout out for a long time, but I did it so I could give you a properly AWESOME one, at the end of my story :) I don't know if you are still reading this, either, but…**

**YOU ROCK!**

**Callie- To my first bearer of constructive criticism: you taught me that life isn't always butterflies and roses- and if I WANT to get better, I need to keep trying to improve CONSTANTLY; EVEN when I feel defeated. I was stunned, absolutely STUNNED, that I actually managed to win your approval in the end. **

**THANK YOU! :D**

**Kyra4- I want to thank you, for like the tenth time, for being so AWESOMELY loyal to this story! You were always there with suggestions and opinions- the very best kinds of reviews, in my opinion :D**

**Anon- Thank you for your reviews- Jane and Gunther forever, my friend, Jane and Gunther forever!**

***Sigh of relief***

**This whole Fanfiction biz really stresses me out X)**

**I ADORE YOU ALL.**

**Seriously- NEVER did I imagine, that I would get TWENTY reviews on this story :D**

**So, here is my CHALLENGE-**

**If you haven't reviewed this yet, now's your chance-**

**Tell me one thing, or more, that you DISLIKED about my story and tell me how YOU would want it to be fixed.**

**Tell me one thing, or more, that you LIKED about my story and WHY you liked it.**

**Tell me what I NEED to do to improve my writing, and I will LISTEN! :)**

**Now's your chance-**

**I want to HEAR FROM YOU :D**

**I really mean it- I am INVITING your suggestions, criticisms, compliments, whatever!**

**PLEASE don't take this lightly- review. I want to get BETTER at this, and you can help me.**

**(ANOTHER thing- I KNOW that there is no such thing as a "weeping acacia tree", if there WERE, it probably wouldn't be in medieval England anyway, but I just didn't want to use "Weeping willow" for the thousandth time XD)**

**That's all I have to say :)**

**I'll let you read the story, now.**

**Song-**

**Song for no-one- Miike snow (ironic, I know!)**

**May your pen never cease to flow with beautiful words-**

**LadyM**

**(In case you didn't notice, the names of my chapters make a poem :D )**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Jane and the dragon, but I DO own the poem! :-3**

**This is not the last of me :)**

***Air kisses***

* * *

><p><em>Departure:<em>

_Would you be the one to stop me?_

_Would you be the one to run?_

_Would you be the one to follow me_

_By the light of the midnight sun?_

_Would you be the one to catch me_

_If I happened to know it all?_

_Would you be the one to lean on_

_If I trip and have to fall?_

_When the world takes a turn for worse_

_When the air leaves my lungs_

_And my life changes course_

_Would you still be by my side_

_If I had to say goodbye?_

He was running, again.

His mind had re-routed itself, pounding in a furious song that he himself couldn't understand. He couldn't think straight anymore, he just ran;

_Jane _was the only word thatseemed to make the distance shorter, the breath leaving his lungs quicker, and the forest around him slip by in whispers.

The wind hummed through his ears and soared in his eyes just like the thin majestic trees that blurred by him in insignificant browns and green and golds, the air stung his eyes, but he just blinked back the pain.

Gunther found her underneath the weeping acacia tree.

The lazy branches fell in lush green curtains around her, sheltering the sitting Jane with her red hair falling over her face like the greenery around her.

She looked up as Gunther parted the branches and held out his hand for her to take.

Refusing to look into his eyes, she turned away as Gunther exhaled, still holding out his hand patiently. He heard an audible sigh as her palm fell onto his, light as a bird.

He grinned and pulled her up, wrapping his arms around her like the leaves of the acacia tree.

Jane relaxed instantly, against her will, feeling her insides melt to molasses as she buried her head into his soft cotton undershirt.

_He smells like country air_, she thought off-handedly.

"Jane…"

"Mm?" came her reply.

"Let's leave," Gunther blurted out wildly, holding her out by the shoulders, so he could see her face. His blood pumped furiously as the thought that had been inside of his head since he was but a teen came spilling out of his lips.

"Let's go- we do not have to go back home, Jane!"

He continued, cheeks flushing in excitement.

"We could stay out here forever, you and me-"

He took her hand in his again, and Jane felt numb as he gazed at her with such hopeful eyes that it nearly broke her heart.

"_Leave?" _She echoed.

Jane clutched her wrists tight, feeling a lump in her throat the size of a boulder.

"Leave everything behind?"

Gunther nodded enthusiastically, and Jane couldn't help but begin to smile at the glow on his face.

"…You would do that for me?" She whispered.

Gunther brought his lips gently to her forehead, sealing his promise in a way words never could.

She looked away, frantic thoughts speeding like wildfire in her mind:

_He cannot possibly know what he is saying!_

_He would never have said that otherwise… not before._

"…You would leave everything you knew before?" she repeated softly, surveying his eyes for a sign of lenience.

"That is just it," he murmured, blowing back a crimson curl from her forehead with a soft puff of air.

"I am not leaving ANYTHING behind… the only thing I can see ahead, is right here _with_ me… with _you,"_

He exhaled, rubbing her cheek with his thumb, begging her silently to say yes.

"You see, Jane, some-one…" Gunther looked Dragon straight in the eye through the leaves, acknowledging the knowing gleam in his beastly eyes, "some-one _wise _once told me that wounds heal in time. Whether they're apparent on the outside or not."

"I _realized,_ that… I would WAIT for you Jane, if you would let me," he whispered, cheeks flushing pink,

"Even if you were wounded and it would take a MILLION moons for you to heal… I do not care! I have all the time in the WORLD, Jane- I could spend it with you… if you like," he breathed.

_He would spend it with… me._ She wondered, in awe.

The seed of hope in Jane's mind blossomed like a burning fire, eating away everything in her chest that had plagued her before. She knew no longer of the tears that ran down her face; tears that were once of sadness, that were now of joy.

_Is this what LOVE feels like? _She mused, her heart beating so loudly, she was sure Gunther could hear it resounding off her chest.

She grinned and Gunther laughed aloud, making her head spin wildly as he twirled her around by the waist, her dress billowing out around her; the hanging leafy curtains behind his face blurred into a sky of brilliant beryl, Gunther's eyes being the stars that shone in happiness.

Jane suddenly heard Jester's voice in the very back of her head, like a whisper of the wind-

'…_I want you… to be happy, Jane…'_

"Gunther…" Jane whispered, smiling against his cheek.

"Mm?" came his muffled answer.

She pulled away from him and gave a slow nod, enjoying the feeling of wings beating in her chest at his every touch.

"If we are going to leave, we ought to do it properly, you know," She murmured, slipping her sword onto the straps around her back.

They pushed through the acacia branches, and into the world outside.

Jane breathed in sharply, breathing in the scent of pine and sage that danced like a forest song in the air.

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, smiling at him.

"You go first," she breathed, listening to the sweet rustling of the breeze through the leaves.

"Kippernia," he began, carving through the silence in a strong, clear voice,

"I came to you as a boy in love with the world and all its riches. I leave you now, as a man, in love with the only treasure I can fit in my heart…"

Jane's heart burst, fire flooding through her veins as Gunther grinned back at her.

"Goodbye… oh Kippernia," He finished, squeezing Jane's hand gently.

Jane licked her lips, and looked up at the sky.

"Kippernia," she breathed softly.

"I came here with a dream. I achieved much more than I could possibly imagine, and I lost much more than I thought I could bear-

But I gained something I would never have expected, not in a million years."

Gunther soared inside, and held her hand tighter than ever.

"There's nothing left for me to say, now…"

Jane asserted, tilting her head back to gaze at the serene white clouds that hung above their heads like a storybook heaven.

"…But, _goodbye,"_

She finished.

The two of the grinned, their smiles doing all the talking for themselves.

Together they ran, Gunther holding out his hand for Jane to mount Dragon's back.

He settled in front of her, and she clutched his waist, feeling a small fluttering sparrow replace her pounding heart.

Dragon gave a mighty beat of wing, and they soared, spirits along with them, into the clear blue skies.

Jane turned around one last time, surveying the shrinking forest, her heart beating fainter now, as they tore away from the place their only home

…_They tore away from the land where they first took their shaking first steps, opening their child-like eyes to the world around them- this was where they learned to love, to live to laugh, to rebel, to dream… to survive, to fight against the twine of fate, to intercede the clockworks of time._

_They left now, knowing in their hearts that they were ready._

_They were ready for whatever life threw at them… as long as they were together, the battle-drums would continue to beat furiously in their hearts, a song of unison- a song of love._

Jane smiled,

_I know I should feel sad, _she admitted silently, _but I do not._

_How could I?_

_I am starting over, _she realized.

_What seems like the end of an era is only the beginning. _Glee made her throat catch suddenly-

_MY beginning._

"Goodbye!" she cried softly into the air, tossing her head back in awe at the heavens unfolding around them in luxurious folds, her child-like joy making Gunther smile.

"Oh, goodbye…"

_And so, our story ended just as it began- on a beautiful summer day._

_The first of many, MANY more, to come._

_**THE END**_


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